Continuing research in the Dissostichus mawsoni exploratory fishery in East Antarctica (Divisions 58.4.1 and 58.4.2) from 2018/19 to 2021/22; Research plan under CM 21-02, paragraph 6(iii)

Exploratory fishing for toothfish (Dissostichus mawsoni) in East Antarctica (Divisions 58.4.1 and 58.4.2) began in 2003. Robust stock assessments and catch limits according to CCAMLR decision rules remain to be determined for these Divisions. WG-FSA-16/29 outlined the first multi-member toothfish exploratory fishery research plan up to 2017/18 for East Antarctica, which the Scientific Committee agreed was appropriate to achieve the research objectives (SC-CAMLR 2016, para. 3.244). Subsequent research progress including the evaluation of standard approaches to identify precautionary catch limits (WG-FSA-17 para. 4.28-4.38) and bycatch mitigation (Maschette et al. 2017), suggests a low risk profile for this fishery. Furthermore, examination of bycatch data and underwater video footage have not led to the identification of vulnerable marine ecosystem (VME) indicator species (Maschette et al. 2017, Eléaume et al. 2018). Here, we update the research plan for 2018/19 to 2021/22 (WG-FSA18/59), in accordance with ANNEX 24-01/A, Format 2. This plan has been designed as a 4-year plan, based on the low risk profile of this fishery and to allow more time for review by Working Groups of major reporting and review years in non-stock-assessment years. Compared to last year (WG-FSA-19/44), this research plan has been updated with 2020/21 operating details and an explanation of the survey design in Section 3. The updated ‘CCAMLR Research Plan – Research Proponent Self-Assessment’ can be found in Appendix 1

Continuation of multi-Member research on the Dissostichus spp. exploratory fishery in East Antarctica (Divisions 58.4.1 and 58.4.2) by Australia (notification ID 98422, 98423), France (94903, 94904), Japan (94886, 94887), Republic of Korea (94889, 94890) and Spain (94835)

Exploratory fishing for toothfish (Dissostichus spp.) in East Antarctica (Divisions 58.4.1 and 58.4.2) began in 2003. Robust stock assessments and catch limits according to CCAMLR decision rules remain to be determined for these Divisions. WG-FSA-16/29 outlines the first multi-member toothfish exploratory fishery research plan for East Antarctica, including research objectives, methods and milestones in accordance with ANNEX 24-01/A. In 2016, the Scientific Committee agreed that the research plan was appropriate to achieve its objectives (SC-CAMLR-XXXV, para. 3.244). We present here a proposal for the continuation of the research plan as set out in WG-FSA-16/29. All significant changes to the plan are outlined in Section A. A summary of data collection in 2016/17 (Section B), and issues arising from the 2016/17 season (Section C) are also provide