A first attempt at an assessment of the Patagonian toothfish (Dissostichus eleginoides) resource in the Prince Edward Islands EEZ

The history of the fishery for Patagonian toothfish in the Prince Edward Islands EEZ is reviewed briefly. It is characterised by very large illegal catches and a sharply declining longline CPUE trend. Application of a simple age-structured production model provides robust indication that the spawning biomass has been depleted to at most a few percent only of its pre-exploitation level. Projections suggest that the annual TAC should be reduced to at most about 400 tonnes. Implications for surveillance are discussed.