A versatile approach to minimise damage or loss of longline gear due to sea-ice

At SAM 2019, there were again reports on damage and/or loss of longline gear, most likely due to impact by sea ice. Especially when operating in areas with difficult sea ice conditions and quickly varying sea ice cover, there is an increased risk that any parts of longline gear floating on the surface might get caught up and ensnarled by drifting sea ice flows or sea ice pressure ridges. This paper informs FSA about the very successful experience gained by the Alfred Wegener Institute in using pop-up buoy recovery systems for short-term deployment of scientific instruments on the sea floor and invites FSA to: (1) to (re-)discuss the issue of damage or loss of longline gear due to sea ice, including the potential environmental impact this causes; (2) to consider recommending to SC-CAMLR that longline fishing vessels, especially when fishing in areas with high or rapidly changing sea ice cover, should use systems such as acoustic pop-up buoy recovery systems; (3) to determine whether there is adequate information available on this issue and/or whether there is a need to collect further, specific / targeted data.