Limited: The product fails in most aspects to meet the objectives but meet some.

A comprehensive evaluation of fishing effort in the Atlantic Ocean (FAO Fishing Areas 21, 27, 31 and 34) could not be fully achieved, primarily due to data sensitivity and restriction policies surrounding the use of VMS and fishing log book data. A partial assessment of FAO Area 27 (Atlantic Northeast) was possible as access to UK and Estonia fishing effort data was granted. Estonian data related to fishing effort in the Mediterranean and was discarded. However fishing effort is underestimated as UK data accounts for a fraction of the total fishing activity present in this area. Further assessment of FAO fishing areas 21, 31, and 34 (Atlantic Northwest, Atlantic Western Central, and Atlantic Eastern Central) could not be concluded due to a lack of VMS and Log book data. Global fisheries capture statistical data relating to areas 21, 31 and 34 suggest that foreign flag vessels from the EU, Russian Federation, Japan and the Ukraine actively engage in fishing activities. It is impossible to determine if these vessels are engaged in bottom trawling as access to logbooks containing gear type used could not be obtained. The overarching opinion is sensitivity and restrictive policies surrounding VMS and Log book data need to be reviewed. An accurate assessment of the impact caused by bottom trawling cannot be achieved when access to appropriate data remains restricted.