FantasticSearch

RESEARCH HAULS IN THE FISHERY FOR CHAMPSOCEPHALUS GUNNARI IN FAO STATISTICAL SUB-AREA 48.3 DURING THE SPAWNING SEASON 1. Twelve research hauls shall be carried out in the Shag Rocks/Black Rocks area. These shall be distributed between the four sectors illustrated in Figure 1: four each in the NW and SE sectors, and two each in the NE and SW sectors. A further eight research hauls shall be conducted on the north-western shelf of South Georgia over water less than 300 m deep, as illustrated in Figure 1.

2. Each research haul must be at least five nautical miles distant from all others. The spacing of stations is intended to be such that both areas are adequately covered in order to provide information about the length, sex, maturity and weight composition of Champsocephalus gunnari.

3. If concentrations of fish are located en route to South Georgia, they should be fished in addition to the research hauls.

4. The duration of research hauls must be of a minimum of 30 minutes with the net at fishing depth. During the day, the net must be fished close to the bottom.

5. The catch of all research hauls shall be sampled by the international scientific observer on board. Samples should aim to comprise at least 100 fish, sampled using standard random sampling techniques. All fish in the sample should be at least examined for length, sex and maturity determination, and where possible weight. More fish should be examined if the catch is large and time permits. Figure 1: Distribution of 20 exploratory fishing hauls on Champsocephalus gunnari at Shag Rocks (12) and South Georgia (8) from 1 March to 31 May. Haul locations around South Georgia (stars) are illustrative. >PIC FILE= "L_2004097EN.001402.TIF">