COLTO held a longline gear workshop for its members and interested stakeholders on 15-16 August 2024, in Oslo, Norway. The workshop was attended by 35 participants from 14 COLTO member organisations, 13 different toothfish vessels, and 5 different toothfish vessel flag states (see Appendix). All vessels that were represented use the demersal autoline method of fishing for Patagonian and Antarctic toothfish both inside and outside the CAMLR Convention Area. As well as fishing vessel / fishing company representatives there were also attendees from various parts of the fishing gear industry as well as the Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries and the Global Ghost Gear Initiative.
The aims of the workshop were to discuss the various aspects of using and maintaining demersal autoline gear in toothfish fisheries, in relation to how to minimise gear losses, and increasing the chances of recovering lost gear. The workshop also discussed gear end-of-life use.
In addition, given discussions at CCAMLR-42 on gear marking (CCAMLR-42 para 7.60), the workshop also discussed elements of the FAO Voluntary Guidelines on the Marking of Fishing Gear and how current CCAMLR longline requirements compare.