Patagonian toothfish

Patagonian toothfish reaches sexual maturity late and grows slowly. This makes the species vulnerable to fishing pressure. In the 80’s this species was “discovered” and the demand grew fast. in the 90’s the species was strongly overfished. The state of the toothfish stocks was unknown for a long time, but since 2010 there are stock assessments being done for more and more stocks. The state of these stocks seems to improve.

The fishery with set longlines has a moderate amount of bycatch, but bycatch can also include vulnerable sharks and seabirds. The fishery is managed by the CCAMLR (Commission on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources). Several areas are closed for fishery and there are measures taken to reduce bycatch that seem to be effective. Several fisheries are MSC-certifiedMSC Certified:
Fisheries that comply with the Marine Stewardship Council assessment criteria and are certified. Fish products with the blue MSC label are caught by sustainable fisheries..

Patagonian toothfish reaches sexual maturity late and grows slowly. This makes the species vulnerable to fishing pressure. In the 80’s this species was “discovered” and the demand grew fast. in the 90’s the species was strongly overfished. The state of the toothfish stocks was unknown for a long time, but since 2010 there are stock assessments being done for more and more stocks. The state of these stocks seems to improve.

The fishery with set longlines has a moderate amount of bycatch, but bycatch can also include vulnerable sharks and seabirds. The fishery is managed by the CCAMLR (Commission on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources). Several areas are closed for fishery and there are measures taken to reduce bycatch.

Illegal fishery is a big problem with the fishery on toothfish.

Patagonian toothfish reaches sexual maturity late and grows slowly. This makes the species vulnerable to fishing pressure. In the 80’s this species was “discovered” and the demand grew fast. in the 90’s the species was strongly overfished. The state of the toothfish stocks was unknown for a long time, but since 2010 there are stock assessments being done for more and more stocks. The state of these stocks seems to improve.

This fishery with bottom trawls has a moderate amount of bycatch, but vulnerable shark species can be included in the bycatch. The fishery is managed by the CCAMLR (Commission on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources). Several areas are closed for fishery and there are measures taken to reduce bycatch. The management is partly effective.

Illegal fishery is a big problem with the fishery on toothfish.