It is examined the efficiency of observer’s data in the krill fishery in the context of the Scientific Observer Manual –Krill Fisheries for sampling 200 krill every 3 or 5 days, regardless of the number of hauls and the catch per haul and per day. It was shown that the current Scientific Observer’s Manual and its practical implementation by at-sea observers would not be effective for accurate data on analyses of what the krill fishery is catching in term of krill length composition. Appropriate justification of krill sampling by at-sea observer is needed to determine the effective sample design in order to estimate what we are catching in relation to different spatial-temporal scales and between vessels with special attention to continuous fishing method.
We propose to prepare unified requirements for the effective krill sample size and design, taking into accounts the number of hauls per day and the amount of catch per haul, so that C1 data and samples collected by at-sea observers would provide the best information to support the strategic objectives for scientific observations of the krill fishery. At the same time, we expressed that the current Scientific Observer’s Manual for krill fishery have not been implemented by all vessels involved in the krill fishery, indicating that krill fishing is being conducted in violation of CM 51-06 (paragraph 3ii) by some vessels. Moreover, we would like to emphasize that until the revised Scientific Observer’s Manual are developed, the current Scientific Observer’s Manual for sampling 200 krill every 3 or 5 days (regardless of the number of hauls and the catch per haul and per day) should be followed by all vessels participating in the krill fishery. Failure to comply with the Current Manual should be considered a violation of CM 51-06.