The author continue to analyze krill fishery data for understanding fishery operations in Subarea 48.2 with special attention to the period 2006-2011 which is characterized by the highest values of standardized CPUE indices in the Subarea 48.2 for the last 25 years. The paper provides the analysis of spatial - temporal variability of krill fishery based on CPUE trends, trawling duration, catch per haul, fishing efforts (hours fished) and fishing vessel locations for traditional and continuous fishing methods. It was shown how fishery operated by years and month in each SSMUs with special attention to differences between national fleets.
Our results provide the evidence that ‘high CPUE’ regime’ in 2006-2011 is not associated with the changes in fishing methods and the trend in long-term fishery in Subarea 48.2 is results of the influence of changing environment. The temporal pattern of fishing locations was consistent between years and fishing methods. All national fleets preferred SSMU SOW. However; significant monthly and inter-annual variability of fishery performance in relation to fishing methods as well to national fleets has been revealed.
The author suggest that understanding fishery strategy and performance requires knowledge of krill distribution in the fishing grounds with special attention to krill aggregation patterns as the factors influencing trawl catchability. The acoustic surveys and observations onboard krill fishing vessels should be the sources of this information.