Review of key parameters in the Antarctic toothfish (Dissostichus mawsoni) stock assessment model for the Ross Sea fishery

Abstract

The Antarctic toothfish found in the Ross Sea forms one of the largest fisheries in the Southern Ocean. Extreme conditions in the area restrict research of the species and limit knowledge of the life cycle, thereby forcing stock assessments to make assumptions. Aspects relating to recruitment, biomass, and the tagging programme are looked into as both parameters in the model and aspects of a stock assessment. With much of the species life cycle under question and with limited means to investigate it further, the calling for a critical assessment of assumed methods and parameters as they relate to the fishery within the stock assessment model becomes apparently obvious.