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upon troubling issues such as regulating fishing in remote areas, weak importation controls,
flagged and re-flagged fishing vessels, incomplete catch information, and the problematic
role of third parties who are not members of CCAMLR. In 1994-5, it was thought that as
much as 115, 000 tons of Toothfish was being harvested rather than the total reported catch
of nearly 9,000 tons.
In the last decade, CCAMLR and claimant states such as Australia, Britain, and France have
pushed for further measures designed to ; font-weight: bold; } @font-face {" aid="Caddress
IUU fishing, ranging from having observers on board licensed fishing vessels to better
catch-documentation schemes. Some of the vessels engaged in IUU fishing are registered to
CCAMLR members, and the power to inspect and regulate, let alone detain, is limited and
contested. Argentina resents the fact that Britain sells fishing licences to exploit the waters
around South Georgia and, further north, the Falkland Islands. Countries such as Australia,
claimant of the Heard and MacDonald Islands, have invested more heavily in fisheries
protection and been prepared to chase and apprehend vessels suspected of fishing illegally
in the waters around its islands. IUU fishing is a problem involving third parties and other
CCAMLR members who are reluctant to restrain a lucrative trade in Southern Ocean
fisheries - contrast this with the mutual inspection system of scientific stations on the polar
continent.
Reducing illegal fishing will involve a combination of procedures such as fisheries
protection, trans-shipment inspection regimes in countries such as Namibia, Mauritius, and
Madagascar, combined with renewed consumer pressure. The Marine Stewardship Council
has certified the South Georgia fishing ground as sustainable, involving a TAC of
approximately 3,000 tons per year (some five to ten times less than illegal fishing
quantities). A Coalition of Legal Toothfish Operators helps to represent those fishing
companies abiding by licensing regulations, effective in the Southern Ocean. There are signs
that illegal fishing involving Patagonian Toothfish is abating due to consumer and
conservation-related measures. The Australian Antarctic Division declared in 2011 that:
Through increased controls on harvesting and trade by CCAMLR and significant
enforcement efforts by Australia and France, illegal unreported and unregulated (IUU)
fishing for toothfish has declined to near-zero levels in waters under national jurisdiction.
Some IUU fishing persists elsewhere in the CCAMLR Area and was estimated at about
1300 tonnes in 2010.
Illegal fishing is unlikely to be removed from the Southern Ocean. The potential rewards are
still considerable, notwithstanding enforcement efforts of regulatory bodies such as
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