Western Port Commercial Fishery Catch and Effort Data by 5-Minute Grid Cells Since 1998

5-minute latitude by 5-minute longitude grid cells define the spatial units for recording commercial fishing activity in Western Port. This geospatial layer, created by the Victorian Fisheries Authority, has been used to collect catch and effort data since April 1998. The data is available in multiple GIS formats including SHP, GDB, and DWG.

Use Cases

• Map fishing effort intensity based on the 5-minute grid cell system.
• Analyze spatial trends in commercial catch over time based on the long-term data collection.
• Model fishery resource distribution using the standardized geospatial framework.
• Assess compliance or zoning effectiveness by correlating activity with the defined area cells.

Strengths

• Data collection spans over two decades, starting in April 1998.
• Spatial framework is standardized using 5-minute latitude/longitude divisions.
• Available in seven common GIS formats, including SHP and GDB.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count and dataset size are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

Victorian Fisheries Authority

Collection Method

Recorded catch and effort data from the Western Port commercial fishery.

Time Range

Since April 1998

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-09 07:42:19.900131; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Western Port, Victoria, Australia