The history of the fishery for Patagonian toothfish (Dissostichus eleginoides) in the Prince Edward Islands Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) is reviewed briefly. It is characterised by very large illegal catches and a sharply declining longline catch-per-unit-effort (CPUE) trend. Application of a simple age-structured production model (ASPM) provides a robust indication that the spawning biomass has been depleted to, at most, a few percent only of its pre-exploitation level. Projections suggest that the annual catch limit should be reduced to a maximum of about 400 tonnes. Implications for surveillance are discussed.