Automatic Identification Systems (AIS) are collision avoidance devices used on-board both commercial and leisure craft. These systems report the position, track and speed of the vessel through Very High Frequency radio transmissions which are accessible to any suitable receiver. This paper explores the potential to use AIS data to inform small scale fisheries management and marine spatial planning. First, the propagation and reception of the line of sight AIS transmissions was modelled around the coast of Scotland to identify areas where the use of AIS may be compromised. Using open source Geographic Information System and relational database software, computationally efficient methods of processing and analysing AIS data were explored. Three months of AIS data derived from 274 Scottish small scale fishing vessels were used to provide spatio-temporal analyses of trip duration and distance travelled, location of fishing activities, and vessel dependency on fishing grounds. The coverage, opportunities and challenges of using AIS are discussed together with broader applications and future developments.

It was necessary, due to the termination of the original contract with Succorfish M2M 1 , to subsequently revise the objectives of this work package. Consequently, the revised objectives, as agreed with Marine Scotland, were to determine whether the; 1. Automatic Identification System (AIS) 2 could be used to help manage the inshore fishing sector in Scotland and specifically the West coast and islands where topography and the distribution of AIS receivers may preclude detection of AIS targets, and;2. Establish whether inshore fishermen will be willing to accept and use AIS on-board their vessels.1 Details of the termination of the Succorfish M2M contract are lodged with Seafish 2 The Automatic Identification System (AIS) is an automatic tracking system used on ships and by vessel traffic services (VTS) for identifying and locating vessels by electronically exchanging data with other nearby ships, AIS base stations, and satellites. AIS is primarily for safety use and not a dedicated Vessel Monitoring System

[Extract from Executive Summary] This report documents Work Package 7 of the Scottish Inshore Fisheries Integrated Data Systems (SIFIDS) Project, which was designed to facilitate engagement with the key stakeholders including; inshore fishers, their representative bodies, Regional Inshore Fisheries Groups, Marine Scotland including Policy, Compliance and Science. The SIFIDS Project focused on 12 metre and under inshore fisheries vessels, of which around 1,500 are registered in Scotland including those that work part-time or seasonally. The facilitation team was set various targets for engagement based on the requirements of other work packages. The success of the overall project was dependent to a significant extent on securing voluntary engagement and input from working fishers. Previous experience has shown that having a dedicated project facilitation team is an extremely effective model for establishing the necessary trust to encourage industry-participation in projects such as this. The WP7 facilitation team comprised three individuals who have significant marine and fisheries related experience and wide-ranging skills in communications and stakeholder engagement. They worked together flexibly on a part-time basis, ensuring staffing cover over extended hours where required to match fishers’ availability and geographical coverage over Scotland.