Deep-sea fishery in the Mediterranean Sea was historically driven by the commercial profitability of deepwater red shrimps and understanding spatio-temporal dynamics of fishing is key to comprehensively evaluate the status of these profitable resources and prevent stock collapse. A four-year time series of AIS-based observed monthly patterns and related frequency of trawling disturbance are provided with a resolution of 0.01°*0.01°, accounting for the spatial extent and temporal variability in deep water bottom contact fisheries during the period 2015-2018. Fishing effort and vessel presence is measured in units of hours, while frequency between trawling events is given as average days between trawling events over the whole time series. The dataset covers 15 General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM) management Geographical Sub Areas (GSAs) in the Eastern-Central Mediterranean Sea (GSAs 12-16 and 18-27) and was estimated from 370 fishing vessels that were found to perform trawling in deep water (400 m - 800 m). Analysis was based on terrestrial Automatic Identification System (poll frequency of 5 min, EU and non-EU vessels, AIS type = 30) and mostly performed applying the R scripts available in the R4AIS code repository Version v1.0.2  (https://github.com/MAPSirbim/AIS_data_processing/tree/v1.0.2). 

The work was carried out in the framework of the FAO GFCM deep water red shrimps Working Group, which supported in understanding the specific fishery and validated outcomes. This large-scale and high-resolution dataset may help researchers of many scientific fields, as well as those involved in fishery management and in the update of existing management plans for deep-water red shrimp fisheries as foreseen in relevant GFCM recommendations.