MARINE MAMMAL COMMISSION - Annual Report for 1998 



the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resourc- 

 es (CCAMLR). The Convention was concluded in 

 May 1980 and entered into force in April 1982. Its 

 objectives are to ensure that harvesting and activities 

 associated with harvesting of marine living resources 

 in the Convention Area — the marine areas south of 

 the Antarctic Convergence — are carried out so as to 

 (I) prevent harvested populations from being reduced 

 or maintained below their maximum net productivity 

 level; (2) maintain the ecological relationships among 

 harvested, dependent, and related populations; and (3) 

 minimize the risks of changes in the Antarctic marine 

 ecosystem that are not potentially reversible in two or 

 three decades {i.e., to maintain the fullest possible 

 range of management options for fumre generations). 



The Convention established the Commission and 

 Scientific Committee for the Conservation of Antarctic 

 Marine Living Resources. These bodies meet annual- 

 ly to identify and take such actions as are necessary to 

 meet the Convention objectives. The Marine Mammal 

 Commission's involvement in negotiating the Conven- 

 tion and the first 16 meetings of the Commission and 

 Scientific Committee are described in previous annual 

 reports. The 17th annual meetings of the Commission 

 and Scientific Committee were held in Hobart, Tasma- 

 nia, Australia, from 26 October to 6 November 1998. 

 The principal results are described below. 



[Meeting reports and other information concerning the 

 Commission and Scientific Committee for the Conser- 

 vation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources can be 

 obtained from the Commission Secretariat, Post Office 

 Box 213, North Hobart, Tasmania 7002, Australia.] 



The Krill Fishery — The total reported catch of 

 krill in the Convention Area during the 1997-1998 

 fishing season (1 July 1997 to 30 June 1998) was 

 80,802 metric tons (mt), down slightly from the 

 82,508 mt reported caught in the 1996-1997 fishing 

 season. The catch was taken principally in the South 

 Atlantic sector by vessels from Japan, Poland, the 

 Republic of Korea, and the United Kingdom. 



Finflsh Fisheries — The total reported catch of 

 fmfish in the Convention Area in 1997-1998 was 

 11,419 mt, up slightly from the reported catch of 

 10,562 mt in 1996-1997. Patagonian toothfish 

 {Dissostichus eleginoides) accounted for nearly 98 



percent of the catch and was taken in the southwest 

 Atlantic sector by vessels from Chile, South Africa, 

 and the United Kingdom, and in the South Pacific and 

 Indian Ocean sectors by vessels from Australia, 

 France, South Africa, and the Ukraine. Small quanti- 

 ties of Antarctic toothfish (Dissostichus mawsoni) 

 were taken in the southwest Pacific sector by vessels 

 from New Zealand. Small quantities of mackerel 

 icefish (Champsocephalus gunnari) were taken in the 

 southwest Atlantic and western Indian Ocean sectors 

 by vessels from Chile and Australia, respectively. 



Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated Fishing — 



As the name implies, Patagonian toothfish occur and 

 are harvested on the Patagonian Shelf (off Argentina 

 and Chile) and in other Southern Hemisphere shelf 

 areas, as well as in the Convention Area. The fish 

 has high market value and is being targeted both in 

 and outside the Convention Area. 



As noted in the Marine Mammal Commission's 

 previous report, the total reported catch of Patagonian 

 toothfish in 1996-1997 was 32,991 mt. Data derived 

 from reports of landings in southern Africa and 

 Mauritius suggested that there was an additional 

 unreported catch of 74,000 to 82,200 mt. The total 

 catch inside the Convention Area was estimated to be 

 five or six times greater than the reported catch. The 

 unreported catch is by vessels from countries that are 

 not parties to the Convention and by member-country 

 vessels fishing illegally in the Convention Area. 



Recognizing that the stocks in the Convention Area 

 probably can not sustain the estimated level of take, 

 the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic 

 Marine Living Resources adopted a number of mea- 

 sures at its 1997 meeting to address the problem. 

 Among other things, the Commission called on 

 members to identify where Dissostichus spp. are being 

 landed, transhipped, and imported, and under what 

 product names they are being marketed. 



After the Living Resources Commission meeting in 

 1997 the National Marine Fisheries Service initiated 

 a smdy, working with the Customs Service and the 

 Foreign Trade Division of the Census Bureau, to 

 determine the quantities of Dissostichus spp. being 

 imported into the United States and under what names 

 the fish are being marketed. The study found that 



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