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4.04 Electronic Reporting System (EFCA-ERS)

Agency responsible
Data group
04. Fishery information
Coast Guard Functions with access
Fisheries Inspection & Control
Status of implementation
Available
Dissemination channels
Agency web interface
Point(s) of contact

EFCA Servicedesk

Submitted by maria.corredoi… on

EFCA Servicedesk

Email
servicedesk@efca.europa.eu
Last reviewed on
Last saved on
Description

The Electronic recording and reporting system (ERS) is used to record, report, process, store and send fisheries data (catch, landing, sales and transhipment) and was established to support the coordination of joint deployment plan operations.

Data elements

There is a wide range of data elements imbedded in the EFCA ERS such as: 

Vessel activity information 

  • Message information: operation nr-record nr-message date-reception date-operation message type - ERS message type - subscriber type - communication channel  
  • Catch declarations: Time of declaration- declaration type - trip ID - Catch per species  
  • Fishing trip information: Vessel activity - Departure port-Arrival port - Gear used - duration of the trip  

Reference data 

  • Vessel identifiers: CFR - Registration - Vessel Name - IRCS - External Marking 
  • Vessel attributes: Port Code - Port Name - LOA - GT - Power - Gear types 
  • Fishing authorisations: Authorization name, Authorization year, Species, Area, Gear, 
  • Authorisation type 
  • Areas: FAO Areas, FAO Divisions, FAO Subareas, FAO Subdivisions, FAO Subunits, Countries zones, ICES zones, EEZ zones, Ports zones, User defined areas  

Market information 

Senders / Recipients, Fish freshness, Fish packaging, Fish presentation, Fish preservation state, Fish size category, Product  destination, PO use, Withdrawal 

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Scope and source of data

The EFCA ERS application captures data regarding EU vessel fishing activity, which are sent by the master of the fishing vessel to the flag Member State which in turn forwards the reports to the EFCA. The data in the EFCA ERS helps Member States to get a complete picture of what fishing vessels are doing and enables fisheries control authorities to make a more informed decision on which vessels to inspect. 

The EFCA-ERS system allows to: 

  • Receive, process and store ERS messages  
  • Exchange these ERS messages with the stakeholders involved in JDP operations (e.g. MSs, EC, third countries and international organizations)  
  • Support users in the CCICs with their operational planning and risk assessment tasks by providing a set of tools to view, search and analyse the ERS messages and to produce statistics and reports based on specific criteria 
  • Ensure data quality, integrity and reliability through validation operations  
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Technical implementation

The key element is the electronic logbook where the master of a fishing vessel keeps a record of fishing operations. The record is then sent to the national authorities, which store the information in a secure data base. The data are mainly managed by the Member States' Fisheries Monitoring Centres (FMCs).  

The data is exchanged using the European Commission’s data exchange highway (DEH) using FLUX (Fisheries Language for Universal eXchange) based on a Master Data register containing data structures and lists of fisheries codes to be used in electronic information recording and exchanges among Member States, the Commission and EFCA. 

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Conditions of access

All Member States fisheries control authorities participating in a JDP shall have access to that specific information in the EFCA-ERS system. Credentials will be created to those Member State officials approved by the Member State Steering Group. 

The standard user will have a set of access rights depending on what the EFCA system administrator has defined for this specific role. 

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