Argentina Patagonian toothfish - bottom trawl

The Argentine Patagonian toothfish FIP is being implemented by ESTREMAR, NUEVA PESCANOVA (ARGENOVA S.A.) and PESANTAR, with the technical support from CeDePesca.  The FIP aims to attain a certifiable status for the fishery against the MSC standard.

Patagonian toothfish (Dissostichus eleginoides) is a long-lived species (> 50 years), which inhabits waters associated to the southern shelves and slopes of South America and around the sub-Antarctic islands of the Southern Ocean. There is no evidence of large-scale geographic migrations, and studies using genetics, biochemistry, parasite fauna, and tagging indicate a high degree of isolation between populations in the Indian Ocean, South Georgia, and the Patagonian Shelf.

In Argentina, the fishery is managed by the Fisheries Federal Council (Consejo Federal Pesquero, CFP) and the National Secretariat for Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries (Secretaría de Agricultura, Ganadería y Pesca de la Nación, SAGyP), while research and stock assessments are undertaken by the National Institute of Fisheries Research and Development (Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo Pesquero, INIDEP).

The Argentine Patagonian toothfish fishery is subject to total allowable catches and individual transferable quotas issued by the CFP.  This FIP addresses the fishery carried out by the Argentine bottom-trawling fleet in waters south of parallel 52°S.