Case Study 1: Toothfish – An MSC-Certified Fishery - SEAFOOD Ecolabelling: Principles and Practice - page 247

Chapter 11
Case Study 1: Toothfish - An
MSC-Certified Fishery

David Agnew

11.1 Introduction

The fishery for the South Georgia Patagonian toothfish ( Dissostichus eleginoides )
was certified by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) as sustainable and well
managed in 2004. This chapter discusses and chronicles the assessment process
and highlights the various facets of this MSC certification of a complex, and what
proved to be a somewhat controversial, fishery.
This assessment concerned the bottom longline fishery for Patagonian toothfish
( D. eleginoides ) stock around South Georgia and Shag Rocks (hereinafter referred
to simply as 'South Georgia') within the 200 nautical mile (nm) maritime zone of
the Government of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (GSGSSI) (Fig-
ure 11.1). These waters lie within the area of application of the Convention on the
Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR). South Georgia is
an overseas territory of the UK, which is a full member of CCAMLR. Conserva-
tion policy in the convention area is negotiated by the 24-member commission on
the advice of its scientific committee. GSGSSI administers fishing in the territory
in accordance with the principles and decisions of CCAMLR. GSGSSI maintains
a strong scientific research programme that provides scientific and management
advice for management of the marine resources.
Patagonian toothfish is a relatively long-lived fish that inhabits the shelf and shelf
slope waters around most sub-Antarctic islands and the southern coasts of South
America. A closely related species, the Antarctic toothfish ( Dissostichus mawsoni ),
has a similar habitat around the southern Antarctic islands and the Antarctic con-
tinent itself, but is not present at South Georgia. Although toothfish live down
to 2000 m at South Georgia, the longline fishery concentrates in the depth range
500-1500 m. In order to minimise the potential for interactions and incidental mor-
tality of birds (particularly albatross), the fishery is restricted to the winter period
(May-August) and may only set lines at night (Agnew 2004, CCAMLR 2005).
In 2000, the Government of SGSSI chose to seek external certification and ver-
ification that the South Georgia toothfish fishery was a sustainable fishery meeting