Proposed medium-term research plan and data collection plan for the Ross Sea toothfish fishery

The long-term goals of the Ross Sea fishery based on Article II of CCAMLR can be summarised as: the target fished population is above a level which ensures stable recruitment; the ecological relationships between harvested, dependent, and related populations are maintained; and, prevention of changes or minimisation of the risk of changes in the marine ecosystem that are not potentially reversible over two or three decades, with the aim of making possible the sustained conservation of Antarctic marine living resources.

During the intersessional Ross Sea Data Collection Plan workshop, the progress against the 2014 medium-term research plan was reviewed, and the medium-term research objectives for the Ross Sea region fishery for the next 5–7 years were developed. This paper is an update of the draft provided to the workshop and contains recommendations provided during the workshop.

We recommend the Working Group review and then endorse the medium-term research plan (in section 2), the research activities and voluntary programmes (in section 3), and the data collection plan (in section 4) for the Ross Sea region toothfish fishery.