Analysis of the krill fishery in Subarea 48.1 considering trawl fishing method used (2010–2016)

An analysis of spatio-temporal variability of CPUE indices in the krill fishery in subarea 48.1 by years and small-scale management units, including inter-annual, monthly and inter-vessel variability with account of the fishing method used is presented. Particular attention is paid to the fishery in the Bransfield strait, where the main fishery in Subarea 48.1 is concentrated  The possibility of using the standardized CPUE indices as krill biomass density indices for monitoring the variability of krill biomass in SSMU during the fishing season is discussed. Variability of monthly average standardized CPUE estimates in the Bransfield strait shows that despite intensive fishery the density of krill biomass during the fishing season did not decrease and even often increased there.  The latter is an evidence of krill biomass replacement and supplement during the fishing season due to geostrophic drift, and this also points to unjustified hypothesis on the fishery effect on krill biomass and dependent predators.