A possible model of metapopulation structure of Dissostichus eleginoides in the southern Indian Ocean

Based on data on movements of Patagonian toothfish derived from tagging experiments and analysis of toothfish DNA from Heard Island and McDonald Islands (HIMI), Kerguelen, Crozet and Marion/Prince Edward Islands regions a possible metapopulation model for the region is postulated. In this model some or all of the subadult fish at HIMI migrate northwestwards to Kerguelen and Crozet. Larval fish spawned to the north-west of HIMI then return to HIMI in the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. If such a model is valid, this will have significant ramifications for management of fisheries around these islands, which are at present managed independently.