Final report of scientific observation of commercial krill harvest aboard the Japanese stern trawler Niitaka Maru, 13 December 2000–26 January 2001

Japan has deployed one scientific observer on a Japanese krill trawler, Niitaka Maru, from 13 December 2000 to 26 January 2001. The observation was undertaken following the CCAMLR Scientific Observers Manual. Summary of the fishing efforts, processing, fish by-catches, biological measurements of krill, product types are described in the report. The trawler made an anti-clockwise trip around the South Shetland Islands. During this trip, the vessel encountered a swarm rapidly moving southwards. Also, they encountered icebergs twice, and caught some small sized krill around them, which they could not catch in the other locations. The patches seemed to be relatively dispersed compared to the previous season.