Unnatural selection of Antarctic toothfish in the Ross Sea, Antarctica

The current management strategy of the Ross Sea Antarctic toothfish fishery in an MSY mode is to target the oldest, largest, most fecund fish, theoretically to increase the number and growth rate of smaller fish. The literature is reviewed to reveal why this strategy has failed in the past for fisheries taking long-lived, late maturing benthic fish. Not only have there been ecological effects of removing  large fish but such fisheries, in a process called longevity overfishing, has selected against those fish that natural processes have selected for.