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Español The Macquarie Island toothfish fishery, operated by Austral Fisheries and Australian Longline, has entered full assessment for certification with the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC). The fishery comprises up to three vessels responsible for a total annual catch of more than 500 metric tonnes of Patagonian Toothfish Dissostichus eleginoides using longline and trawl methods.
The assessment will consider the sustainability of the fish stock, the environmental impact of the fishing activities and existing management and governance systems. The assessment process is expected to take 12 months and is scheduled for completion around May 2012.
Management measures being placed on the fishery include limiting the number of vessels allowed to operate, setting target and bycatch limits, and imposing seasonal closures and stringent seabird mitigation requirements to reduce the mortality of albatrosses and petrels.
If successful in gaining certification, the fishery will be able to use the MSC ecolabel on its products to help meet the growing demand for sustainably-sourced seafood products worldwide.
The fishery is managed by measures compatible with the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR). Main responsibility for management of the fishery lies with the Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA) which receives advice from the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD) and the Commonwealth Scientific, Industry and Research Organisation of Australia (CSIRO).
Click here for more information on the fishery assessment. See also http://www.afma.gov.au/resource-centre/publications-and-forms/afma-update/longlining-tac-set-for-macquarie-island-toothfish-fishery/.
The Australian Heard Island and McDonald Islands (HIMI) Patagonian Toothfish fishery is currently undergoing assessment with the MSC, as is the French fishery for toothfish operated by the Syndicat des Armements Réunionnais de Palangriers Congélateurs (SARPC) in the EEZs around the island groups of Kerguelen and Crozet in the southern Indian Ocean.
Two further longline fisheries in the Southern Ocean have already achieved MSC certification. They are for Ross Sea Antarctic Toothfish Dissostichus mawsoni in 2010, and South Georgia* Patagonian Toothfish in 2004, with recertification following in 2009.
John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 23 June 2010
*A dispute exists between the Governments of Argentina and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland concerning sovereignty over the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas), South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (Islas Georgias del Sur y Islas Sandwich del Sur) and the surrounding maritime areas.