Patagonian toothfish facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Patagonian toothfish |
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Dissostichus
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eleginoides
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The Patagonian toothfish (Dissostichus eleginoides) is a type of fish that lives in very cold waters. You can find it in the southern parts of the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans. It also lives in the Southern Ocean.
These fish prefer water temperatures between 1 and 4 degrees Celsius (34-39°F). They live very deep, from about 45 meters (148 feet) down to 3,850 meters (12,631 feet). They are often found near underwater mountains called seamounts and on the edges of continents, especially around islands near Antarctica.
The Patagonian toothfish has a close relative called the Antarctic toothfish (Dissostichus mawsoni). This relative lives even further south, closer to the edges of the Antarctic ice. Fishing for Antarctic toothfish in the Ross Sea is done in a way that is certified as sustainable.
Most Patagonian toothfish caught for food weigh between 7 and 10 kilograms (15-22 pounds). However, some very large adults can weigh over 100 kilograms (220 pounds)! These fish can live for up to 50 years and grow to be as long as 2.3 meters (7.5 feet). Many countries fish for Patagonian toothfish, and we will learn more about that below.
Contents
What is the Patagonian Toothfish Called?
This fish is known by many names around the world, especially when it's sold in stores or restaurants. In the United States and Canada, it's often called Chilean seabass. In Argentina, Peru, and Uruguay, people call it merluza negra. France knows it as legine australe, and in Korea, Japan, and Spain, it's called mero. In Chile, it's known as bacalao de profundidad.
The name "Chilean seabass" was created in 1977 by a fish seller named Lee Lantz. He wanted a name that would make the fish sound more appealing to people in America. He thought about "Pacific sea bass" and "South American sea bass" before choosing "Chilean seabass." In 1994, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) officially accepted "Chilean seabass" as another name for Patagonian toothfish. Later, in 2013, they also accepted it for Antarctic toothfish.
In the United Kingdom, these fish are officially called "icefish" or "toothfish." This can be a bit confusing because there's another fish called a "mackerel icefish" (Champsocephalus gunnari) that looks very different from the toothfish.
Patagonian Toothfish Life and Diet
Patagonian toothfish lay their eggs in very deep water, about 1,000 meters (3,280 feet) down, during the southern winter. Their eggs and young larvae float in the open ocean. When the larvae are about one year old, they move to the seafloor in shallower waters, around 100 meters (328 feet) deep.
They stay in these shallower areas (less than 300 meters or 984 feet deep) until they are about 6 or 7 years old. Then, they slowly start moving into deeper waters. When they are young and in shallow water, toothfish mainly eat other fish that are the right size. As they grow bigger and move deeper, their diet changes. They start eating more things like squid, other fish, and crustaceans (like crabs and shrimp).
In turn, toothfish are sometimes eaten by other large ocean animals. These include sperm whales, southern elephant seals, and colossal squid.
Fishing for toothfish is carefully managed by an organization called the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR). CCAMLR uses an "ecosystem approach." This means they look at all living things in the Southern Ocean as one connected system. They consider how fishing might affect predators, prey, and other related species. Decisions about how many fish can be caught are based on good scientific advice that has been checked by experts from different countries.
How Patagonian Toothfish Fishing is Managed
Fishing for toothfish is controlled by CCAMLR in an area that covers Antarctica and the waters between 45°S and 60°S latitude. Some fishing areas are within a country's own waters, like around Crozet, Prince Edwards, and Marion Islands. These areas are managed by those countries, but they still follow CCAMLR's rules.
Toothfish fishing outside the CCAMLR area, in the coastal waters of Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay, is managed by those countries. However, all toothfish caught, no matter where, are tracked by the CCAMLR Catch Documentation Scheme. This system follows the fish from when they are unloaded from the boat until they are sold to the customer.
In legal toothfish fisheries, the most common way to catch them is using longlines. A longline is a very long fishing line with many baited hooks attached to it. A small number of toothfish are also caught by trawling, which involves pulling a large net behind a boat for short periods.
To protect seabirds, legal fishing boats must follow strict rules:
- They cannot fish during the summer when many seabirds are raising their young.
- They cannot set hooks during the daytime.
- They must use a "bird-scaring line" that trails behind the boat to keep birds away from the hooks.
- They must use special devices called "Brickle curtains" on all their fishing trips.
- Boats must use weighted longlines so that the hooks and bait sink quickly before birds can grab them.
- They cannot throw fish waste overboard at the same time they are setting or pulling in lines. This stops birds from being attracted to the boat when they might be in danger from the hooks.
In 2011, a CCAMLR expert said that very few seabirds were dying in most fishing areas. Even in the areas where there were still some issues, seabird deaths had dropped by over 98% from their highest levels. However, sometimes marine mammals like sperm whales, orcas, fur seals, and elephant seals can still get caught, which can be dangerous for them.
Trawling usually catches smaller toothfish. CCAMLR considers these smaller catches when deciding how many fish can be caught each year. CCAMLR has also banned all trawl fishing in international waters and in new fishing areas.
Stopping Illegal Fishing
To make sure fishing does not harm fish populations or the ocean environment, CCAMLR uses several systems to monitor fishing boats. These systems help make sure everyone follows the rules. They include:
- Vessel licensing: Boats need special permission to fish.
- Monitoring of transhipments: They check when fish are moved from one boat to another.
- Vessel and port inspection systems: Boats and ports are checked to make sure rules are followed.
- Automated satellite-linked vessel-monitoring systems (VMS): Satellites track where fishing boats are at all times.
- Catch Document Scheme (CDS): This is a very important system for Patagonian and Antarctic toothfish. It helped greatly reduce illegal fishing. The CDS is an online system that tracks legal toothfish from when they are caught until they are sold. National authorities must check and approve the documents at different stages of the trade. This helps make sure that only legally caught fish enter the market.
Legal Fishing Practices
The Coalition of Legal Toothfish Operators, Inc. (COLTO) is a group that represents about 80% of the legal toothfish fishing companies worldwide. Many of the fisheries where COLTO members fish are now certified by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC). This means they are independently checked and found to be sustainable and well-managed.
CCAMLR manages commercial fishing for Patagonian and Antarctic toothfish in most of the areas around Antarctica. However, if a fishery is inside a country's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), that country manages it. They still try to follow CCAMLR's recommendations.
Here are some of the toothfish fisheries that are certified as sustainable:
- South Georgia Fishery: This was the first toothfish fishery to get MSC certification in 2004. It has been re-certified several times, most recently in 2014. The UK oversees this fishery.
- Ross Sea Fishery: This fishery, which mainly catches Antarctic toothfish, was certified in 2010 and re-certified in 2015.
- Heard Island and McDonald Islands Fishery: This Australian fishery was certified in 2012 and re-certified in 2017.
- Macquarie Island Fishery: Also in Australia, this fishery was certified in 2012 and re-certified in 2017. It is managed in a way that works with CCAMLR's rules.
- French Fisheries: France manages toothfish fishing around its islands in the South Indian Ocean, like the Kerguelen Islands and the Crozet Islands. The Kerguelen Island fishery was certified in 2013 (re-certified 2018), and the Crozet Islands fishery in 2017.
- Falkland Islands Fishery: The Falkland Islands, a British territory, also has a toothfish fishery that was certified in 2014. They follow rules similar to CCAMLR's.
More than half of all legally caught toothfish worldwide comes from fisheries that are independently certified as sustainable by the MSC.
Other countries also manage their toothfish fisheries:
- Chile: Chile has two fishing fleets. A "small boat" fleet operates in the north, and a larger "industrial fleet" operates in the south and in international waters.
- Argentina: Argentina manages its toothfish fishery off its coast.
- Prince Edward and Marion Islands: South Africa manages this fishery. Catches here were greatly reduced in the past due to a lot of illegal fishing. Now, as the fish population recovers, the legal catch limits are slowly increasing.
Globally, about 30,000 tonnes of toothfish are caught each year. About 80% of this comes from COLTO members, and around half of it is certified as sustainable.
Fighting Illegal Fishing
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing for toothfish almost caused some fish populations in the Southern Ocean to collapse. However, since 2005, a lot of effort has been made to stop this. CCAMLR member countries, government patrol boats, environmental groups, and media attention have helped almost completely stop IUU fishing within countries' waters.
Until 2015, a small amount of IUU fishing still happened in international waters. In 2014 and 2015, big campaigns worked to stop this. For example, the Sea Shepherd group had "Operation Icefish," where they chased an illegal fishing boat called the Thunder for 110 days before it sank. Navies from New Zealand and Australia, along with Interpol and governments from Spain, Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia, worked together. They successfully caught and stopped all the remaining 6 illegal toothfish fishing boats in international waters.
At its worst, illegal fishing was estimated to be 32,000 tonnes in 1997, with about 55 illegal boats. By 2010, illegal catches had dropped to about 1,615 tonnes, and only four illegal boats were known to be active. This was a decrease of over 95% in illegal fishing since the mid-1990s. In 2012, CCAMLR estimated that 90% of the illegal catches at that time were Antarctic toothfish, not Patagonian toothfish.
CCAMLR regularly checks information on illegal fishing. They have lists of vessels from countries that are part of CCAMLR and those that are not, if they are involved in illegal fishing. Boats on these lists have broken the rules and harmed toothfish populations and other marine life. This system, along with the catch documentation scheme, has been very important in reducing illegal toothfish fishing.
In the past, France sold some fishing rights to Japanese and other foreign fishing companies. But because of illegal fishing, only French fishers based in Reunion Island can now fish there. The French Navy and Australian Customs boats still patrol the waters together. They have made many arrests and seized illegal boats, like in the 2003 Viarsa incident, where an Australian Customs vessel chased an illegal boat for over 7,200 kilometers (4,474 miles).
The legal catch limits for toothfish are set by CCAMLR. They consider how much illegal fishing might have happened in the past or is happening now. In some areas, this has meant that legal fishing companies could catch much less fish. For example, in the Australian Heard Island and McDonald Islands fishery, the legal catch limit dropped a lot between 1996 and 2007 because of illegal fishing. Since then, there has been no illegal fishing in that area, and the legal catch limit has slowly increased.
The United States also has rules to stop illegal toothfish imports. Toothfish cannot be imported without valid Dissostichus catch documents. Dealers need permits, and special approval certificates must be issued by NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration). Also, toothfish must come from boats with satellite tracking systems (VMS) that show their movements. All VMS data must be sent to CCAMLR's central system, and the U.S. needs confirmation of this before any products from those boats can be imported into the United States.
Even King Charles III, when he was Prince of Wales, was concerned about the future of this fish. It was later confirmed that seabirds were being protected in toothfish fisheries, and illegal fishing had almost stopped.
The European Union (EU) also has rules against illegal fishing:
- Only seafood that is confirmed as legal by the country it came from can be imported into or exported from the EU.
- The EU has a "black list" of illegal fishing boats and countries that ignore illegal fishing.
- EU fishing companies that fish illegally anywhere in the world face big fines. These fines are large enough to make sure they don't profit from their illegal catches.
Seafood Guides for Consumers
The Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch program lists Patagonian toothfish in its guides. In 2013, Seafood Watch updated its ratings for about 78% of the toothfish caught worldwide. Here are their recommendations:
- Best Choice: Heard Island and McDonald Islands Fishery (Australia), Macquarie Island Fishery (Australia), Falkland Islands Fishery.
- Good Alternative: South Georgia Fishery, Kerguelen Islands Fishery (France), Ross Sea Antarctic toothfish Fishery.
- Avoid: Prince Edward & Marion Island Fishery (South Africa), Chile, Crozet Islands Fishery (France).
- Not Rated: Argentina.
In 2010, Greenpeace International added the Patagonian toothfish to its seafood red list. This list includes fish commonly sold in supermarkets that are at high risk of coming from unsustainable fisheries. Greenpeace has not updated its rating for toothfish since the 2013 Monterey Bay Aquarium review.
Images for kids
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Chilean Sea Bass cooked "Hong Kong" style from Eddie V's in Fort Lauderdale, FL
See also
In Spanish: Bacalao austral o róbalo de fondo para niños
