This paper provides an update on the ongoing FRDC-funded research project to develop robust assessment methods and harvest strategies for spatially complex, multi-jurisdictional toothfish fisheries. The project aims to develop a spatially-explicit model framework that captures the important spatial characteristics of current and historical fishing by France and Australia, and the underlying distribution, abundance and movement of toothfish on the Kerguelen Plateau, to enable complementary harvest strategies to be developed for the Australian and French fisheries, as well as develop tools that can be used to assist assessing other spatially structured fisheries.
We provide (1) an outline of the project objectives, and report progress on; 2) Modelling the spatial distribution of toothfish by their median length and sex ratio across the Kerguelen Plateau; 3) An analysis of the fishable area in the French and Australian exclusive economic zones (EEZs); 4) Improving tag-based estimates of fish movement parameters; and 5) Evaluating spatial bias on tag-based estimates of abundance. The project is progressing according to the proposed timetable, with the expectation that future assessments and data collection in the region will continue to be refined to account for the spatial structure of the stocks and fisheries in Divisions 58.5.1 and 58.5.2.