By-catch of juvenile Champsocephalus gunnari in krill fishery on the shelf of South Georgia Island

AtlantNIRO had conducted in 1982-1990 a series of juvenile fish trawl surveys of abundant species around South Georgia Is. Results of these survey were summarised and compared with published data. Juveniles of Champsocephalus gunnari were found to be distributed from the surface to 500 m depth with a maximum density observed at depth between 100 and 200 m. High catches of C. gunnari juveniles were regularly taken in the south, south-west and south-east parts of the shelf. Juveniles of C. gunnari were usually found along the periphery of krill concentrations but not inside these concentrations. Estimated mortality of C. gunnari juveniles is relatively small and was estimated that 0.3 to 0.5% of fish survived up to an age of one year.