Fishing fleet and catches. By type

Gross tonnage

Tonnage of a vessel, expressed in gross tonnage (GT) as declared in the tonnage certificate in accordance with the International Age International Convention on Tonnage Measurement of Ships of 1969.

Trawling

Type of fishing based on actively towing a net along the seabed by means of the boat's main engine. It consists of a conical or pyramidal body that is closed at the bottom in an area called the landing net where the mesh is smaller.

Lesser arts

Type of fishing based on the use of fixed nets and rigging for either passive or active fishing, but smaller than in the previous types. These are generally smaller boats that use a driftnet, nasses, scoops, cages or rakes for capturing fish or shellfish.

Seine

Type of fishing based on the use of a roughly rectangular net that surrounds a shoal of fish with the aid of powerful spotlights located on a small auxiliary vessel. Once the fish have been surrounded, the net is closed at the bottom to create what is known as a purse. The target catches are mainly small pelagic species, such as sardines and anchovies.

Tuna seine

Similar type to seine fishing for small pelagic species in terms of the art and the system, but the boats are bigger and are exclusively used for tuna fishing. They use a similar net, but it is much larger. In this case, luminous systems are used to concentrate the fish.

Longline

Type of fishing based on casting a high-resistance nylon line from which short lines called snoods (or gangions) branch off at regular intervals, at the end of which are hooks with the right bait for the type of fish being caught. When the line hangs beneath the surface, this is called pelagic longline, and when it hangs on the sea floor it is called demersal longline. Floats can also be used to catch surface (pelagic) species.

Gross register tonnage (GRT)

Capacity of a vessel measured in Moorson tonnes, which are equivalent to 2.83 m³ of the decimal system, considering the loads, provisions and crew. From 1995 the measurement Gross tonnage (GT) was introduced to substitute it.

Auxiliary vessel

Auxiliary vessel or boat used for fishing or aquaculture activities: this is the item entered in the Fourth List of the Vessels Register.

Fishing vessel

A vessel used for catching fish or other living resources of the sea (art. 1, point 20 of Directive 2008/106/CE of the European parliament and Council). Excluded from this definition are vessels or boats used for recreational fishing.

The data referring to the fishing and aquiculture sector is taken from the Ministry of Climate Action, Food and Rural Agenda. The Ministry plans the lines for the promotion of the fishing and aquiculture sector, manages programmes to subsidise and commercialise fishing and aquaculture, and executes plans in relation to marine resources. It also coordinates relations with fishermen's guilds and other organisations in the sector in Catalonia. As for the fishing fleet, the Ministry manages permits for new constructions, modernisations and changes of base of fishing vessels.

From 2013, data is offered on the type of seine of red tuna and hauls by fishermen on foot. This does not include hauls auctioned in Catalan exchanges for boats from outside of Catalonia, or sales made by aquiculture auxiliaries (this production is included in the aquiculture data).