Regional fisheries watchdog sets fish quotas

A REGIONAL fishing watchdog has decided to set fishing quotas for an endangered toothfish species currently exploited in the southern areas of the Atlantic Ocean.

“Total allowable catches for the Patagonian toothfish will be 263 metric tonnes from January next year and this remains in place until the end of 2009,” Dr Hashali Hamukuaya, Executive Secretary of the South Eastern Atlantic Fisheries Organisation (Seafo), told The Namibian. Seafo, which is based in Swakopmund, held its fourth annual meeting in Windhoek last week.”It is the first time that Seafo limits catches for Patagonian toothfish in South East Atlantic waters,” Hamukuaya added.”This was done in accordance with the advice and recommendations of the Seafo scientific committee.The action was necessitated by concerns about the sustainability of the current fisheries and of the potential negative impacts on vulnerable marine habitats.”According to Greenpeace, toothfish play an important part in the Southern Atlantic Ocean ecosystem around Antarctica.Fish off, the Antarctic is especially vulnerable to over-fishing because most species take a long time to become sexually mature and are long lived.Toothfish grow slowly and to more than two metres long.They can live as long as 50 years and do not breed until at least ten years old.They live in deep waters (from 300 to 3 500 metres down) and are found on seamounts and continental shelves around most sub-Antarctic islands.They are part of the sperm whale’s diet and scientists estimate that they comprise up to 98 per cent of the elephant seal’s fish diet.Rapid over-fishing by especially Asian fleets in recent years caused especially the Patagonian toothfish stocks to decline at an alarming rate.Seafo has also for the first time set a 400-tonne quota for Red Crab fishing for 2008 and 2009 due to a decline of stocks.During the meeting, Seafo also established a compliance committee to advise the Commission on compliance issues.The regional body further adopted a measure to ensure that illegal, unregulated and unreported fisheries (IUU) in the whole of Atlantic Ocean is minimised.All IUU vessels that are in the IUU lists of Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organisation (NAFO), Northeast Atlantic Fisheries Commission (NEAFC) and the Commission for the Conservation of the Antarctic Living Marine Resources (CCAMLR) will also be listed with Seafo.Seafo further established more stringent measures for ports.It also called on other parties, notably Japan and the Republic of Korea, currently fishing in the area, to join Seafo and accept responsibility and costs, thereby balancing the benefits they draw from their fisheries in the area.Seafo was established in March 2004 after the entry into force of the Convention in April 2003.Angola, European Union, Namibia and Norway are currently members.Seafo, which is based in Swakopmund, held its fourth annual meeting in Windhoek last week.”It is the first time that Seafo limits catches for Patagonian toothfish in South East Atlantic waters,” Hamukuaya added.”This was done in accordance with the advice and recommendations of the Seafo scientific committee.The action was necessitated by concerns about the sustainability of the current fisheries and of the potential negative impacts on vulnerable marine habitats.”According to Greenpeace, toothfish play an important part in the Southern Atlantic Ocean ecosystem around Antarctica.Fish off, the Antarctic is especially vulnerable to over-fishing because most species take a long time to become sexually mature and are long lived.Toothfish grow slowly and to more than two metres long.They can live as long as 50 years and do not breed until at least ten years old.They live in deep waters (from 300 to 3 500 metres down) and are found on seamounts and continental shelves around most sub-Antarctic islands.They are part of the sperm whale’s diet and scientists estimate that they comprise up to 98 per cent of the elephant seal’s fish diet.Rapid over-fishing by especially Asian fleets in recent years caused especially the Patagonian toothfish stocks to decline at an alarming rate.Seafo has also for the first time set a 400-tonne quota for Red Crab fishing for 2008 and 2009 due to a decline of stocks.During the meeting, Seafo also established a compliance committee to advise the Commission on compliance issues.The regional body further adopted a measure to ensure that illegal, unregulated and unreported fisheries (IUU) in the whole of Atlantic Ocean is minimised.All IUU vessels that are in the IUU lists of Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organisation (NAFO), Northeast Atlantic Fisheries Commission (NEAFC) and the Commission for the Conservation of the Antarctic Living Marine Resources (CCAMLR) will also be listed with Seafo.Seafo further established more stringent measures for ports.It also called on other parties, notably Japan and the Republic of Korea, currently fishing in the area, to join Seafo and accept responsibility and costs, thereby balancing the benefits they draw from their fisheries in the area.Seafo was established in March 2004 after the entry into force of the Convention in April 2003.Angola, European Union, Namibia and Norway are currently members.