Extension of the development of a management procedure for the toothfish (Dissostichus eleginoides) resource in the Prince Edward Islands vicinity

Abstract

Three Operating Models (OMs) reflecting an “Optimistic”, “Intermediate” and a “Pessimistic” current status for the toothfish resource in the Prince Edward Islands region are developed which take account of the different selectivities of past longline and pot fisheries. These models are used for trials of a candidate Management Procedure (MP) which could provide future TAC recommendations for this resource. The MP uses two data sources: the recent trend in longline CPUE and the mean length of the catches made. This MP provides encouraging performance over the wide range of scenarios considered, increasing catches substantially if the resource is above MSYL, while increasing more slowly if the resource is heavily depleted while nevertheless securing stock increase with high probability.