Data Processing and Reporting:

Practical guidance on completing IOTC forms

Common reporting issues

• Catches recorded for no species names with blank column headings.

Issue: Catches recorded in columns with no species names, or with #NA values.Possible reasons: Species names not fully entered, or entered incorrectly. Or file name saved as Excel workbook (macro functionality lost).

SKJ BLM COM ALB BETKatsuwonus

pelamisMakaira indica

Scomberomorus

Thunnus alalunga

Thunnus obesus

LLTU WIO 56 3LLTU WIO 1049LLSW WIOLLTU WIO 5LLTU WIO 1LLTU WIO 3 7LLTU WIO 15BS WIO 28GI WIO 5GI WIO 49 5 1353GI WIO 1290HL WIO 224HL WIO 1341HL WIO 2800

FISHERY AREA

Common reporting issues

• Catches recorded for no species names with blank column headings.

Issue: Spreadsheet functionality not working correctly, e.g., drop-down menus, access to species reference tables or code tables.Possible reasons: Macros have been lost during file save. Ensure workbook is saved as ‘Excel 97-2003 Workbook’ or as ‘Excel Macro-Enabled Workbook’.

Common reporting issues

• Catches recorded for no species names with blank column headings.

Issue: • Inconsistency between completed fields for ‘Data source’, ‘Data processing’ and

‘Type of data’• Example: Type of data: ‘Raised to total catch’, Coverage: ‘Statistics not raised’, Data

processing: ‘Total enumeration of catch-and-effort’.

Common reporting issues

• Catches recorded for no species names with blank column headings.

• Issue: data submitted as .pdf rather than machine readable. Data is time-consuming to extract and difficult to ensure values have been converted to machine-readable format correctly.

Common reporting issues• Issue: Catch-and-effort or size-frequency data submitted at the wrong spatial

resolution, or grid codes entered incorrectly.• Recall that IOTC statistics shall be aggregated by using 5° grid area (longline) (grid

size 6) or 1°grid area (surface fishery) for catch-and-effort; 5° grid area for size-frequency (grid size 5).

Example 7 digits code

Grid Size

Quadrant

DegreesLatitude

DegreesLongitude

(1) 6100050 6 1 0 0 0 5 0

(2) 6205040 6 2 0 5 0 4 0

(1) 5104088 5 1 0 4 0 8 8

(2) 5200095 5 2 0 0 0 9 5

Common reporting issues• Incomplete information –

Missing species names entered or names entered in the wrong columnsAt the minimum, English (or French) AND scientific name need to be added

No target species entered No information on data coverage or data source, raising of data, or catch

estimation methodology.

Common reporting issues

• Catches recorded for no species names with blank column headings.

Grid size Code

1o by 1o 5

5o by 5o 6

5o by 10o 1

10o by 20o 2

10o by 10o 3

20o by 20o 4

Grid Size of Grid Quadrant Latitude Longitude6250080 6 2 50 080

5 by 5 grid Quadrant 2 50 Degrees E 80 Degrees S

IOTC grid reference format –• Issue: Grid references entered incorrectly, or incomplete.• Grids references follow 7 digit format: Quadrant (1 digit) – Grid size (1 digit) – Latitude (2 digits) – Longitude (3 digits)• Coordinates refer to the corner nearest to 0 Latitude and 0 Longitude (upper left or

right corner in Southern Hemisphere, and lower left or right corner in Northern Hemisphere).

Common reporting issues

4 1

3 2

Data reporting checklistCompletion of IOTC forms1. Contact details are entered correctly.2. Species names are completed and entered in the correct columns. English (or

French) AND scientific name need to be added for all new species.3. Target species is entered (as much as possible).4. Data processing and data source are fully completed, and consistent.5. Multiple tick-boxes and drop-down menus for raised data are correctly selected.

Data resolutionData is fully reported at the minimum resolution levels detailed in IOTC guidelines:• Nominal catch: retained catches reported in live weight by IOTC Area (East or West

IO), species, and fishery (gear type).• Discards: numbers or live weight• Catch-and-effort: catch by numbers or live weight reported by month 1° (surface)

or 5° (longline) grid square.• Length-frequencies: reported by month and 5° grid square.• Active crafts: total no. of fishing craft by fishery (gear type), craft type, and craft

size.

File formats:• IOTC forms: check completed IOTC data forms are saved as ‘Excel 97-2003 format’,

or ‘Excel Macro Enabled Workbook’ format (under File > Save As)• Non-IOTC forms: Data is submitted to the IOTC Secretariat in machine readable

format (e.g., .xls, .csv, .dbf) rather than .pdf format

Data reporting checklistIMPORTANT: use of IOTC forms for the reporting of fisheries data is not obligatory. Countries are encouraged to report data in other formats, provided that the data reported meet the minimum data requirements set out in the IOTC Guidelines.

File formats:• IOTC forms: check completed IOTC data forms are saved as ‘Excel 97-2003 format’,

or ‘Excel Macro Enabled Workbook’ format (under File > Save As)• Non-IOTC forms: Data is submitted to the IOTC Secretariat in machine readable

format (e.g., .xls, .csv, .dbf) rather than .pdf format

Data reporting checklistIMPORTANT: use of IOTC forms for the reporting of fisheries data is not obligatory. Countries are encouraged to report data in other formats, provided that the data reported meet the minimum data requirements set out in the IOTC Guidelines.

File formats:• IOTC forms: check completed IOTC data forms are saved as ‘Excel 97-2003 format’,

or ‘Excel Macro Enabled Workbook’ format (under File > Save As)• Non-IOTC forms: Data is submitted to the IOTC Secretariat in machine readable

format (e.g., .xls, .csv, .dbf) rather than .pdf format