Managing the Ross Sea toothfish fisheries – A response to the consultation responses (COMM CIRC 18/39)

In 2017 the fishery in the Northern Area of the Ross Sea Area 88.1 was opened for one day, closed for 2 days, and then re-opened, a situation that was criticised by some Members. The Secretariat has taken note of the responses to the consultation released in COMM CIRC 18/21 (CCAMLR Secretariat catch and effort monitoring procedure) and proposes a revised approach for catch and effort monitoring, and the calculation of closure dates, for the 2018/19 season in the Ross Sea:

• The Secretariat will follow a defined and published set of decision rules to calculate closure dates of exploratory fisheries in the Ross Sea. For the first 3 days of the fishery, when little information is available from the current fishing season, calculations will be made on historical catch data for the vessels that have notified their intent to fish. After this time the Secretariat will transition to a projection based on data reported from the current season.

• Because the catch in the Northern area is so small, significant over- or under- runs of the limit may be expected. The Secretariat proposes that the impact of this on the fishery is minimised by allowing both over- or under- runs to be accommodated within the overall catch limit with the following change to the CM 41-09:

(i) all areas outside the Ross Sea region marine protected area, which in Statistical Subarea 88.1 include SSRUs A, B, C, G, H, I, J and K

– 2 054 2 645 tonnes

Of which no more than 591 tonnes may be caught north of 70°S

• Clarification of the definition of when a vessel is operating in exploratory fisheries and the requirement for daily reporting.