A geographic information system for operational use in pelagic fisheries-FIS

Presents the general architecture for a geographic information system called Tunafis, that is applied to fisheries. The main objectives of Tunafis are: to provide an information service through communication equipment via satellite, which is of great importance for a pelagic fleet, to acquire data about fishing activity and the environment variables, and to develop and improve fishing strategies which may lead to an increase in the final product of fishing activities. The “Ribela” ship, dedicated to the fishing of tuna fish in the summer and swordfish during the rest of the year, has for some months been collaborating on the improvement of the system. The results obtained are quite promising, both with respect to the increase of the catches as well as to the decrease of oil consumption and of searching time with a consequent decrease in the duration of fishing tides or campaigns,.... Further on, the authors present an analysis of the results obtained during this period, comparing the catches obtained by the test ship with those obtained by other ships which are dedicated to the same activity in a fishing zone which coincides with the authors´