MinouwApp: a digital logbook for unwanted catches

A web tool that lets fishers and scientists record, map and analyse where unwanted catches happen, built for the EU landing obligation.

Fisheries, EU researchDo it for youBycatchParticipatory scienceSpatial analysis

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Challenge

Under the EU landing obligation, discards must be reduced, and reducing them starts with knowing where and when they happen. The platform had to balance three interests that pull in different directions: public scientific knowledge, the intellectual property and confidentiality of fishers, and regulatory compliance.

What we built

MinouwApp is an open source, web based digital logbook that lets fishers and researchers record, map and analyse spatial and temporal hotspots of unwanted catches.

It was tested across seven European case studies. Fishers log GPS positions and catch data on an Android app, the data is merged with vessel tracking, and the results appear in an interactive application where each user sees only what their access rights allow.

Key features

Digital logbook. Records GPS positions and catch data through an Android app.
Data integration. Fisher reported data is merged with vessel tracking from VMS and AIS.
Spatial analysis. Maps high discard hotspots at regional scale.
Participatory design. Co developed with fishers, scientists, NGOs and policy makers.
Open platform. Publicly available so it can be replicated on future case studies.

How it works

Field data collection with an Android app that records GPS positions and catch data.
Data integration with VMS and AIS vessel tracking.
Spatial analysis of hotspots with generalised additive models and spatial statistics.
Visualization in interactive maps built with Shiny and Leaflet.
Governance output: evidence for discard reduction strategies.

Screenshots

Diagram of the data sources and end users brought together in MinouwApp — The main data sources MinouwApp integrates, and the groups of people who use it.

Diagram of user access rights — Access rights. Developers and case study managers control the set up, other users see aggregated data only, which protects fishers' confidentiality.

Overview panel of a bottom trawl case study — Overview panel for a bottom trawl case study.

Effort data panel showing swept area — Effort panel. Fishing effort shown as swept area in square kilometres.

Unwanted catches panel with areas coloured by a persistence index — Unwanted catches panel. Areas coloured by a persistence index of high discards.

Fuzzy overlay panel with a composite index — Fuzzy overlay panel. A composite index from 0 to 1 that combines several layers.

Overlap analysis panel — Overlap analysis. Where fishing effort and unwanted catch hotspots coincide.

Outcome

A working, publicly available platform, tested across seven European case studies in direct support of the landing obligation. It connects data collection in the field with evidence for governance, and gives managers, fishers, scientists and the public a shared place to design discard reduction strategies.

Scientific context

MinouwApp was developed under the EU funded MINOUW project, Science, Technology and Society Initiative to Minimise Unwanted Catches in European Fisheries. Publication: D'Andrea et al. (2020), The MINOUWApp: a web based tool in support of by catch and discards management, Environmental Monitoring and Assessment.

RShinyLeafletPostgreSQLPostGISAndroid

Figures from the published paper.

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