Safeguarding Southern Ocean Fisheries

As fisheries around the world have crashed, industrial fishing fleets steamed south and we have seen an explosion in interest in Southern Ocean fisheries in recent years. This has put tremendous pressure on the Patagonian toothfish, known in the United States as ‘Chilean Sea Bass’, in Korea as ‘Mero’ and in other countries by various names.

There is a legal fishery for toothfish, following quotas set by the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), but also a large illegal fishery for toothfish. This combined fishing is driving toothfish towards commercial extinction while threatening the survival of threatened albatross and petrel species, which are caught in long-line hooks.

There is a substantial legal fishery for Antarctic krill. ASOC and its partners have developed a campaign to ensure that krill is managed on a fully precautionary, ecosystem-as-a-whole basis.

ASOC’s Southern Ocean Fisheries advocacy aims to stop illegal fishing in the Southern Ocean, and to ensure that legal fisheries are truly precautionary and sustainable.

CCAMLR is responsible for managing the fisheries of the Southern Ocean. As an official observer organization, and as advisors on national delegations to CCAMLR, ASOC has been instrumental in holding CCAMLR to its goal of protecting the Antarctic marine ecosystem as a whole. Fishing activities are allowed in the CCAMLR area as long as a healthy ecosystem is maintained and the harvesting doesn't harm predators. For more information on CCAMLR, see www.ccamlr.org.
Illegal fishing combined with pressure from fishing nations to expand the legal fisheries is undermining CCAMLR’s ability to sustainably manage the toothfish fishery. Despite the high levels of illegally caught toothfish present in major markets, the Marine Stewardship Council awarded certification of the South Georgia Patagonian Toothfish Longline fishery in March 2004. The decision to evaluate this fishery met strong opposition when it first came up for consideration in early 2001. ASOC was part of a group of environmental organizations that opposed certification, submitting formal objections together with National Environmental Trust (NET), National Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Greenpeace International and the Humane Society.

In 2009 the MSC began certification processes for Ross Sea toothfish and krill caught by Norwegian fisher Aker Biomarine. ASOC, WWF, Greenpeace and Pew Environment Group filed detailed comments opposing those certifications.

STOPPING ILLEGAL FISHING:

An important Treaty between the Governments of Australia and France on cooperation in the maritime areas adjacent to the French Southern and Antarctic Territories (TAAF), Heard Island and the McDonald Islands came into force on February 1, 2005. This is a step towards stopping illegal fishing in the Southern Ocean.

ASOC urges all CCAMLR members to pool their satellite and other data to track illegal 'pirate' fishing vessels and arrest them. The illegal toothfish fishing could be shut down within three years through aggressive enforcement.
For more information on toothfish, read "Black Gold", a blockbuster report on the pirate fishing from the National Environmental Trust, by clicking here.

RED LIST:

ASOC's updated Red List of illegal fishing vessels will be available soon.

BOTTOM TRAWLING:

ASOC supports a moratorium on high-seas bottom trawling.

Click here for more information on that campaign.

LINKS: Chatham House maintains an excellent site on illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing, which has a section on the Southern Ocean.

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