The 1989 meetings of the Commission and Scientific Committee 

 for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources were 

 held in Hobart, Australia, on 6-17 November 1989. During the 

 meetings, the Commission and Scientific Committee considered a 

 broad range of issues, including finfish conservation, krill 

 research and monitoring, initiation of a squid fishery, estab- 

 lishment of a system of observation and inspection, assessment 

 and avoidance of incidental mortality, and ecosystem monitoring. 



Finfish Conservation Measures — Vessels from six countries 

 (France, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, and the 

 Soviet Union) fished in the Convention Area during the 1988/1989 

 fishing season. The total fish catch was 104,397 metric tons, up 

 significantly from the catch of 86,987 metric tons in 1987/1988. 

 Much of the increase was due to a doubling of the catch of 

 Myctophids (small, pelagic schooling fish) from 15,172 metric 

 tons in 1987/1988 to 30,800 metric tons in 1988/1989. There also 

 was a substantial increase in the catch of Dissostichus 

 eleainoides (from 2,855 metric tons in 1987/1988 to 5,824 metric 

 tons in 1989) due primarily to the initiation of a long-line 

 fishery in the area around Shag Rocks. There also was an 

 increase in the catch of Champsocephalus gunnari (from 37,931 

 metric tons in 1987/1988 to 45,965 metric tons in 1988/1989). 

 Most of the finfish catches, as well as the krill catches (see 

 below) , were made by Soviet fishing vessels. 



Consideration of conservation measures focused on fisheries 

 in areas around South Georgia Island (statistical subarea 48.3). 

 As noted in previous Marine Mammal Commission reports, both 

 finfish and krill fishing have tended to be concentrated in this 

 area and have resulted in the over-exploitation of several local 

 finfish populations, including populations of Notothenia rossii 

 and C. qunnari . C. qunnari catches have been high and have 

 involved by-catches of other depleted species. For this reason, 

 most members of the Living Resources Commission supported a one- 

 or two-year closure of this mixed species fishery to allow the 

 depleted populations to recover. The Soviet Union opposed such a 

 closure but, as a compromise, agreed to: (a) an 8,000 metric ton 

 Total Allowable Catch (TAC) for C. qunnari in the South Georgia 

 area during the 1989/1990 fishing season; (b) a prohibition on 

 directed fishing for C. qunnari in the South Georgia area between 

 20 November 1989 and 15 January 1990 and 1 April and 4 November 

 1990; (c) the prohibition of directed fishing for Notothenia 

 gibberifrons , Chaenocephalus aceratus , Pseudochaenichthys 

 georgianus , and Notothenia squamifrons ; and (d) a 300-metric ton 

 limit on the by-catch of Notothenia rossii, Notothenia 

 gibberifrons , Chaenocephalus aceratus , and Pseudochaenichthys 

 georgianus in the South Georgia area. The Commission also 

 adopted a catch limit of 12,000 tons on Patagonotothen brevicauda 

 guntheri . and a new catch reporting system, based upon five 

 rather than ten-day reporting periods. Further, the Commission 

 adopted a resolution urging that all members conducting long- 



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