Life history, fishery, and stock conservation of the Patagonian toothfish around the Falkland Islands

Abstract

The Patagonian toothfish Dissostichus eleginoides is an important commercial object of the longlining fishery and is taken as a bycatch during different trawl fisheries in Falkland waters. Recently, the future of its stocks in the southern ocean has come under pressure from illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing, which undermines the effectiveness of conservation measures. Since the Falkland long-lining fishery began in 1994, this species has yielded between 686 and 2,998 metric tons (mt) per annum. Recently trawlers have taken 20–40% of the total catch by weight, but they caught some 60–80% of the total catch by numbers, having greater impact on the toothfish stocks than the longliners, where catch per unit effort (CPUE) is restricted by only two vessels allowed to fish. The Falkland Islands Fisheries Department has carried out investigations of the species’ biology aimed on the stock conservation and sustainable use. The Falkland toothfish reproduces on slopes of the Burdwood bank but migrates to forage over vast areas, probably even outside of Falkland waters, where it could be vulnerable to unregulated fisheries.