Br.Ant.Territory : South Georgia Government Increases Toothfish TAC for 2006 Season
Submitted by (Juanita Brock) 04.01.2006 (Article Archived on 18.01.2006)

CCAMLR has allowed the South Georgia Government to increase its toothfish Total Allowable Catch by 15%.

SOUTH GEORGIA GOVERNMENT INCREASES TOOTHFISH TAC FOR 2006 SEASON

By J. Brock (FINN)

The South Georgia Government has increased by 15% the total allowable catch (TAC) for Toothfish in the South Georgia Maritime Zone for the up coming season in 2006.  Presently the TAC is 3546 tonnes, which will be allocated until the new season begins.

TAC of Toothfish is allocated by The Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Resources (CCAMLR).  The increase was approved at the Convention’s meeting in Hobart, Tasmania in 2005. Indeed, CCAMLR set the whole TAC for all the Antarctic Marine Living Resources at that meeting.

South Georgia Operations Manager, Gordon Liddle, attended the meeting in Tasmania on behalf of the Government of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (SGSSI).  The increase in TAC was due to more accurate stock assessments, using a tagging procedure that, due to its success, will be used in several other fisheries in the Southern Ocean.

According to the Project Atlantis Website, a further 100 tonnes TAC has been set for CCAMLR sub-area 48.4, around the South Sandwich Islands, up substantially from the 28 tonne TAC in the same area last year, this is again to allow a  larger tagging programme and will show very much more clearly the  size of stocks in this area and their distribution. The season for longliners will run from May 1st to the August 31st 2006, but there is no seasonal restriction for fishing for Toothfish  with pots.

For more information about South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, please visit the Project Atlantis Website at:  http://www.sgisland.org.