Patagonian toothfish tagging study plan in the southwest Atlantic (FAO Area 41)

We propose to conduct an exploratory satellite tagging campaign of Patagonian toothfish (Dissostichus eleginoides) in the Southwest Atlantic Ocean (FAO Area 41). Existing data on this species is extremely rare and incomplete in both study duration and geographic coverage. This proposal attempts to address this inadequacy by deploying a total of 50 popup satellite archival tags on mature, adult Patagonian toothfish over two fishing years. Since this work is highly exploratory and will represent one of the first dedicated research effort on this species, we have developed an adaptive experimental design in flexibly targeting specimens according to fish availability and fishing conditions. Our goal is to provide a first description of both short-term, and ideally, long-term horizontal movements of Patagonian toothfish. This work has the potential to reveal the possible connectivity among various parts of the Southern Ocean that has eluded all previous work.