List of existing data for VME assessments
Following up the decisions of the VME&BF Data workshop, the SSC VME worked intersessionally to identify existing data which potentially can be used for VME assessments. The tasks were expected to be addressed are as follows: (1) Update the table of existing data on bottom fishing footprint and effort (Annex D, Data WS report); (2) Suggest modifications on the draft templates for recording existing taxa data (Annex H, Data WS report) and multibeam data (Annex I, Data WS report); (3) Discuss appropriate temporal and spatial resolution of data for identifying bottom fishing grounds and assessing SAI on VMEs and data collection template.
The paper presents the current status of the work, with contributions to the lists of data from Canada, Japan, Korea and Russia. Other Members are invited to provide information about existing data for VME assessments.