A revision of the research plan and preliminary results of the Spanish exploratory longline fishery for Dissostichus spp in Divisions 58.4.1 and 58.4.2, submitted to the XXXII-WG-SAM, taking into account the advice made by the Working Group, is presented.
The Spanish vessel Tronio started the research plan in the 2012/13 season using the Spanish bottom longline system. One depletion experiments was completed in each of the SSRU surveyed (58.4.1H and 58.4.1G). Three prospecting-phase clusters of sets did not reach the threshold to start the depletion.
A new prospective estimation of the local biomass (BLOC) of the two localized areas where the depletion experiments were performed is done as well as an estimation of the biomass of the SSRUs (BSSRU), maximal and minimal, considering areas with high and low densities, with a better fit of the regression and lower residuals than the previous analysis.
An analysis of relevant sea-ice conditions in the last 11 seasons in these areas along with a summary of the activities and results from the survey is also presented related to the sampling scheme, collected samples and species involved.