The proposal: To list Patagonian and Antarctic toothfish (Dissostichus eleginoides and D. mawsonii) in Appendix II. (Submitted by Australia, which has also proposed a draft resolution setting out the rules for implementing a toothfish listing under CITES.)

HSUS Position: Support

The Patagonian toothfish—also known as Chilean sea bass, Mero, and Black Hake—is becoming threatened by its own popularity as a seafood dish. Because of its similarity, the Antarctic toothfish is also disappearing.

In just three years, the population of Patagonian toothfish around Prince Edward and Marion islands, off the coast of South Africa, was reduced by 90%. Likewise, illegal, unregulated, and unreported fishing reduced the Patagonian population at Crozet Island, also in the South Indian Ocean, by 45% in one year. As populations are depleted, fishermen are moving their lines from west to east in the South Indian Ocean, currently concentrating on the Kerguelen Plateau, which could be depleted within five years.

The Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) has set catch limits for toothfish, limits that would be sustainable if followed. But the CCAMLR has been unable to enforce those limits. This is in part because of the 56 nations who trade in the fish, only 24 are full members. In the past four years, almost 50% of the toothfish sold in international trade were caught by fishermen who worked illegally or who didn't report their catch. Such fishermen register their boats in countries that have not signed on to CCAMLR, and then take their catches to ports in those countries to avoid CCAMLR obligations.

A CITES Appendix II listing will extend trade controls to all countries involved in the toothfish trade, making it possible for the CCAMLR catch limits to be enforced.

A CITES listing would have a side benefit: A reduction in toothfish fishing would also reduce the albatross and petrel by-catch associated with longline fishing. Several albatross and petrel species are threatened with extinction as a result of incidental drowning in longline fisheries.