Reporting and communicating of longline sink rates

Two of CCAMLR’s exploratory fisheries for toothfish (Statistical Divisions 58.4.3a and 58.4.3b) permit fishing outside of the prescribed season so long as longline weighting protocols are complied with. For the purpose of determining whether licensed operators within the CCAMLR Area are compliant with these longline weighting protocols CM 24-02 (2005), Australia recommends that the Secretariat report, using the CCAMLR Members Only section of the CCAMLR website, longline sink rate compliance for vessels which fish outside the prescribed season. This will allow, among other things, for patrols to be undertaken efficiently and effectively as they will be able to know which fishing vessels are entitled to fish in which areas, and under which conditions. A draft amendment to CM 41-06 is provided for adoption. It is recommended that this text be included in all applicable conservation measures (ie CM 41-06 and CM 41-07).