Document Number:    
                  WG-FSA-96/11
              
      Accessibility Categories    
                  Open Access (OA)
              
      Review Finalised:    
                  No
              
      Agenda Item(s)    
        
      
      Abstract    
                  By-catch was observed during two successive cruises of longliners fishing for Patagonian toothfish Dissostichus eleginoides in approximately 500m depth along the shelf slope in the west of Kerguelen. By-catch consisted mainly of Rajidae Bathyraja spp. (85 %). The proportion of species taken in the by-catch was low (less than 0.75%) and does not represent a problem at the present level of fishing. The results indicate that longlining therefore is a highly target-specific method of fishing in the patagonian toothfish fishery.