The year 2025 was no exception. The beginning of the year was celebrated by employees of the Kerch Department Alexander Zaitsev and Sergey Usachev in the Ross Sea and the Amundsen Sea, in the CCAMLR Commission area of responsibility, on the Russian longline vessels Alfa-Kraks and Yantar 31, which are fishing for Antarctic toothfish. Together with Russian observers collecting biological and fishery statistical information, one international representative from CCAMLR from the Republic of South Africa works on each vessel.
In the 2024/25 season. In the CCAMLR zone, approximately 15 vessels under the flags of 6 states are operating in the Antarctic toothfish fishery. The fishery, which began on 1 December 2024, is significantly complicated by the difficult ice conditions in the area of operations. The "Olympic" principle of fishing adopted by CCAMLR provides an advantage to those vessels that have managed to occupy the most productive fishing grounds and have well-trained crews. Despite the unfavourable ice conditions, this year the precautionary catch limit established by CCAMLR in the region is being quickly selected. At the same time, the large volume of daily catch requires significant efforts from scientific observers to timely fulfill the numerous responsibilities established by the Commission. In accordance with the standards and requirements, scientific observers perform biological analyses and mass measurements of toothfish and other bycatch species, tag toothfish, monitor the return of tags, collect fish otoliths, keep records of bottom organisms caught on the longline - elements of vulnerable marine ecosystems, observe seabirds and mammals, monitor the discharge of waste from vessels, and systematically determine the coefficient for converting technological products into catch. The collected information is provided daily to the vessel captain for reporting to CCAMLR.
By now, VNIRO observers have collected a large volume of biological and commercial data that will be used to assess the state of Antarctic toothfish resources in the continental seas of Antarctica.
VNIRO Press Service