The Subarea 48.5 is a large area contained from 60°W to 20°W where has been closed to directed fishing for long time and is not even subdivided into any SSRUs. Republic of Korea noted that it could be because of the lack of information on this region. The research surveys were conducted in this area for two years. The Republic of Korea noted that the research activities in this region had relatively high catch rates in the Convention area. In the light of fishing experiences from the fisheries of the Convention and International High Sea, the fishing masters in general look for the grounds where no vessel previously fished. In this region, the severe ice condition existed for many years and no fishing vessel was operated.
Korea notifies the participation in research surveys for Dissostichus spp. in Subarea 48.5 from 2015/2016 to 2017/2018 using Korean commercial bottom longline vessel in accordance with paragraph of CM 24-01 and paragraph 6 (iii) of CM 21-02 to collect the catch and effort, CTD, tagged and released, recaptured data, biological data for estimating biomass for Dissostichus spp. and evaluating migration and distribution. The purpose of this research is to revisit to the areas where the research activities were conducted in the past. Therefore, it wishes to undertake the research plan with the catch limits that was endorsed by the Scientific Committee (SC-CAMLR-XXXII Paragraph 3.218).