The Ross Sea toothfish fishery: proposal for conditional transition of classification from exploratory to established

The Ross Sea toothfish fishery in Subarea 88.1 and 88.2A&B has been classified by CCAMLR as an exploratory fishery since 1998.  The current classification of this fishery as ‘exploratory’ has led to the widespread misconception that little information is available for this stock, and that a rigorous assessment of the stock status and estimation of long-term precautionary yield has yet to be undertaken.  In fact, many biological characteristics of D. mawsoni are now well understood, and integrated assessments using the CASAL framework have been undertaken since 2005.  Although there remain uncertainties with aspects of the stock, we propose that the stock is sufficiently well understood and assessed that it should be re-classified.  To ensure that sufficient data are acquired to continue assessment of this stock, we propose retaining several elements of the current requirements for Members wishing to participate in the Ross Sea toothfish fishery as set out in Conservation Measures 21-02 and 41-01.