Fishing ground selection in krill fishery: trends in its patterns across years, seasons, and nations

Patterns of fishing ground selection were characterized using STATLANT and CCAMLR fine scale data. Among the 15 SSMUs within Areas 48.1, 48.2 and 48.3 including the pelagic SSMUs, only one third of them were identified as the main contributors to the total catch. A shift of operational timing towards later months within fishing seasons was observed in Area 48.1 (Dec-Feb to Mar-May). However, operational timing stayed relatively constant in Areas 48.2 (Mar-May) and 48.3 (Jun-Aug). During a quarter century of krill operation in Area 48, patterns of SSMU usage has changed. Three different patterns of seasonal SSMU selection were characterized by following the result of cluster analysis. Frequently used SSMUs did not always match the areas of high krill densities observed by scientific surveys, and possible reasons for this mismatch were further discussed. Desire for revised data submission format was also recognized in order to accommodate any possible development of the fishing techniques.