Ross Sea fishery research and data collection plan

A review of the use and effectiveness of research lines as a data collection and effort spreading tool within the Ross Sea exploratory toothfish fishery (CCAMLR statistical Subareas 88.1 and 88.2) is presented. The increase in the number of vessels in the exploratory fishery in Subareas 88.1 and 88.2, combined with the greater number of Small Scale Research Units (SSRUs) and the amount of data collected through fishing activities has effectively made the requirement to force a spread of research sets (5 nm spatial separation) superfluous as other factors produce the same result. The paper also demonstrates that by-catch levels, particularly catches of Whitson’s grenadier (Macrourus whitsoni), are demonstrably higher on research hauls.
The paper concludes with a proposal for a more effective Research Plan for the Ross Sea exploratory toothfish fishery that achieves the requirement to collect biological, environmental, and longline specific data on both the target species and on other catch species in a non biased and statistically valid manner covering as wide a range as possible.