Marine protected areas and toothfish fishing around Heard and McDonald
The project to extend the marine park of the Australian archipelago closest to Antarctica has just been opened to public consultation, and the question of fishing is inevitably on the agenda. Survey.
On July 5, the Australian government announced its intention to protect an additional 300,000 square kilometers of maritime space around the Heard and McDonald Islands, more than 4,000 kilometers southwest of Tasmania in the Southern Ocean. The project would expand an existing marine protected area to cover 90% of the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) around this Australian possession south of the polar front. “By quadrupling the size of the marine park […] more of our oceans around the islands should be protected, as well as the seals, albatrosses and whales that live there,” said Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek. “This proposal would […] protect half of Australia’s waters, while allowing the sustainable fishing industry to continue to exist.” The Patagonian toothfish fishery – a type of cod from the cold waters of Antarctica – is worth $100 million to the country’s industry every year. Renowned for their meat, these fish irrigate a highly lucrative market in the United States and Asia.
Although discussions about the new marine protected area began earlier, the government’s announcement follows several events. Firstly, the release ofa report assessing toothfish populations. Published on May 7, 2024 by the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), it shows that Patagonian toothfish numbers on the Heard and McDonald Islands are collapsing. By 2023, the population had reached 39.4% of the “original” population, estimated at 224,760 tonnes. It has fallen below the sustainable fishing threshold defined by CCAMLR. The government’s announcement comes at a time when the CCAMLR Ecosystem Monitoring and Management Working Group is meeting in Leeuwarden (Netherlands).
To fish or not to fish?
The toothfish fishery is reputed to be precautionary and sustainable. But is it really? The Department of the Environment tells us that it is MSC-labeled and that: “We are working within CCAMLR to develop conservation measures that ensure the sustainable use of living marine resources, including toothfish, which is the main fishery in the waters around Heard and McDonald.” Around five vessels usually cruise Australian waters at 50 degrees south latitude. Last year, only three vessels ventured there. This small fleet set out in 2023 in pursuit of 3,000 tonnes of fish and only brought in around 2,600 tonnes.
Unlike other toothfish fisheries, the one around Heard and McDonald is not restricted to longlines. Bottom trawls are active on the underwater shelves. Many NGOs do not consider this technique to be sustainable. Richard Leck, who heads the WWF Australia working group, criticizes the government’s proposed protected area delimitation system in the Australian media ABC News: “These areas will not have a very significant impact on the existing fishing industry, and it would be great to see this proposal revised and these important species protected.”
“In terms of conservation objectives, full and high protection correspond to IUCN categories I and II,” explains Joachim Claudet, ocean advisor at CNRS (France), in issue no. 338 of Chasse-Marée magazine. “In a ‘light’ marine protected area, some protection exists, but moderate to significant extractions and impacts are permitted.”
According to the map, the areas penalizing fishing will not be located where fishing effort is greatest. “At the moment, the new sanctuary zones are not in the places I think are the highest priority,” explains Dr Andrew Constable, a marine biologist from the University of Tasmania, on ABC News. A perfect opportunity for many stakeholders to enter the debate, the project is subject to public consultation until September. “Ms. Plibersek said that current fishing can coexist with the expansion of protected areas, noting that this can help fend off illegal fishing,” ABC News also reports.
Unlisted vessels are sometimes detected on the periphery of territorial waters, as in 2011, 2016 and 2017. Fishing gear is also regularly found drifting in national waters. “There are always suspicious boats hanging around the periphery of the EEZ,” confides an anonymous source close to the Kerguelen fisheries. This archipelago borders Heard and McDonald. The two land masses share a vast underwater region connected by a plateau.
Failure to recruit
La pêche réglementée n’est peut-être pas à l’origine de la chute des effectifs de légine. “Cette pêche suit des règles strictes, elle est suivie par des observateurs embarqués qui marquent des poissons pour pouvoir évaluer la population d’une année sur l’autre”, nous explique Marc Eleaume, biologiste du Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle de Paris travaillant sur les écosystèmes aquatiques de l’archipel Kerguelen.
The state of stocks in the French EEZ is suffering the same effects as those in Australia. The level has reached 66% in 2023, according to the CCAMLR stock assessment report. CCAMLR expects the decline to continue in the coming years. French fishermen have been noting this for two years now. “The fish are moving from one sector to another, and the holds are harder to fill,” says an anonymous source. “CCAMLR has taken up the problem and is trying to understand why,” explains Marc Eleaume. Two hypotheses are being investigated. A failure to estimate stocks, or a failure to recruit young toothfish.
“L’effort de pêche de la flotte australienne est assez resserré dans l’espace ce qui pourrait avoir des conséquences sur l’estimation de la biomasse”, nous explique le chercheur. En mai 2023, une équipe de l’Australian Antarctic Division embarquait pour une campagne exceptionnelle à bord du navire de pêche Cape Arkona.
“We have a lot of information on the biology of toothfish, and a good estimate of abundance based on our catch register and the scientific activities carried out during fishing operations”, explained Dr Cara Masere, AAD’s scientific advisor, in a press release at the end of the campaign.
“But we need to know more about what’s going on below the surface to make sure we’re collecting all the information correctly. We need to know how deep and how far they travel to understand how people react,” she continues. The proposal to protect Australian waters provides for $17 million to mount a 100% scientific expedition around Heard and McDonald in 2025-2026. On the French side, a large-scale stock assessment campaign is scheduled for September.
“Le niveau de recrutement des jeunes légines est mal connu et pourrait avoir baissé au cours des années précédentes”, rappelle Marc Eleaume. Les légines pondent en profondeur où vivent les adultes, puis les larves remontent à la surface et se rapprochent des côtes près desquelles elles grandissent en amorçant une progressive descente vers les profondeurs. “Il est possible que le changement climatique pourrait avoir un impact. La fluctuation du front polaire, les vagues de chaleur marines…”, énonce Marc Eleaume. Les océanologues polaires étudient les changements dans les courants de ces régions. “La phase larvaire est une période délicate pour tous les organismes, il est donc possible que des perturbations affectent ce niveau du cycle de vie de la légine”, précise Marc Eleaume.
“Recent observations indicate that marine heat waves have been occurring in the region, increasing temperatures across the shelf to depths of around 600 meters. These waves have been associated with short-term changes in toothfish catch rates, possibly due to changes in the behavior of prey species,” reads a report published this year by the Australian Department of the Environment.
In Australia, some doubts clearly persist: “The management of these areas needs to be further assessed to ensure that they are adequately protected from seabed disturbance, such as that caused by demersal trawls or scientific sampling”, reads the same report.
But the phenomenon is broader. The situation in South Georgia is intermediate between Kerguelen and Heard & McDonald. Toothfish have now fallen just below the conservation threshold. Stocks were estimated in 2023 and represent 47% of the original population.
Camille Lin, PolarJournal AG
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