Investigations on midwater trawling for krill (Euphausia superba) in the Southern Ocean

Results of harvesting operations for Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) in Fishing Area 58 in the Indian Ocean Sector of Southern Ocean, during the First Indian Antarctic Krill Expedition (27 December 1995 - 10 March 1996) on board FORV Sagar Sampada are summarised in this paper. 18 hauls were made using a 2.5 m Isaacs-Kidd Midwater Trawl (IKMT) in the area 59°00’-61°08' S lat; 30°04'-40°04' E long, from 27 January to 12 February 1996. In the area of operations, krill was caught in waters south of 60° parallel (60°43'-6l°00' S), between 32°00-34°05' E long. Krill were present in 33.3 per cent of the total number of hauls taken. Major species obtained were krill (8%) and salps (92%). Aimed trawling operations targeted at Antarctic krill were conducted using a 42 m commercial krill midwater trawl sourced from Poland and a 49.5 m experimental krill midwater trawl of Danish origin. total catch of 12470 kg was landed during the 16 aimed trawling operations. This included 5637 kg Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba), 6738 kg salps, 35 kg jelly fish, 12 kg krill juveniles, 2.2 kg lantern fish, 5.7 kg squid and 2.7 kg other fishes. Krill constituted 46 per cent of the total catch while salps constituted 54 per cent. Average catch for krill worked out to be 354.6 kg.haul-1. In the area of operations (57°53'- 61°13' S lat and 31°40' - 36°31' E long ) krill was caught between 60°48' - 61°13' S lat and 31°19' - 34°14' E long. Better catches (>l000 kg.haul-1 ) were obtained between latitude 60°40' - 61°13' S and longitude 33°34' - 34°14' E.