Incidental seal entanglements on trawl vessels fishing for krill
in CCAMLR Subarea 48.3

Observers on krill vessels fishing around South Georgia in the 2003 fishing season recorded fur seal captures by some krill fishing vessels. These captures can be attributed to the absence of effective mitigation measures (escape panels in the nets) and lack of experience of crews new to the fishery. Experienced vessels, employing effective mitigation measures, caught no seals. Although these levels of seal mortality are unlikely to impact significantly on fur seal populations, it is clearly important to have observers on krill vessels monitor the effectiveness of mitigation measures as well as to collect other biological data.