Japan and France revised a plan to continue to investigate the populations of Patagonian toothfish (Dissostichus eleginoides) in the Division 58.4.4b during the next fishing season (2018/19) from 2017/18 onwards, using standardized longline gear, and established tagging techniques. The proposed research is relevant and take into account issues raised by the Scientific Committee (SC-CAMLR-XXXIII, paragraph 3.208), which requested that research activities be coordinated between France and Japan so that selectivity and catch rates can be standardized across the vessels and impacts of depredation be minimized.
Additional outcomes of the research relate to documenting the degree of depredation, tagging toothfish for biomass estimation and for stock linkage studies, and collecting information on distribution, relative abundance, and life history of bycatch species.
The plan represents a continuation of previous surveys by Japan and France, without significant change from the previous research activities. Summary of revised points from WG-SAM-18/03 is as follows:
- Updated the timeline table of milestones to get closer to the original timeline (WG-FSA-16/33) and to clarify the meeting to be reported
- Added the table to track the changes of milestones (Appendix 1)
- Added the list of comments/recommendations by WGs (Appendix 2)