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Figure 1. a) Mean annual spatial distribution of fisheries activity derived from VMS records using a simple speed filter.

The colour scale indicates the mean annual number of VMS derived data points within 9 km2 pixels, solid line circumscribes the UK declared fishing zone, broken line is 200 m depth contour. Regional labels: Western Channel (WA), Goban Spur (GS), Rockall (RK) and Northern North Sea (NI). b) Tonnes of fish (demersal and pelagic) landed by UK registered vessels from the shown ICES statistical reporting boxes. Total number of vessels registered at main UK fishing ports greater than 17 metres in overall length (filled circles). All vessels for Northern Ireland have been mapped to Belfast. c) Coefficient of variation of the mean annual distribution of fisheries activity, lighter colours indicate areas of greatest variability in space-use, darker areas indicate regions of consistent space-use on annual time-scales. d) Coefficient of variation of the mean monthly distribution of fisheries activity, lighter colours indicate areas of greatest variability in space-use, darker areas indicate regions of consistent space-use on monthly time-scales.