40. Australian vessels have had 100 % coverage by marine observers who collected data from 60 - 70 % of all tows. This has been faciliated by the fact that about 90 % of the Australian fishery has been undertaken by one company. The information was provided to the Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA) who passed it to the Australian Antarctic Research Division (a consequence of using Patagonian toothfish fishery logbooks to record the data, which the Antarctic Division uses). This comprises a complete data set including observations on, e.g. bycatch, marine mammals and seabirds. There is, however, no research specifically directed at fisheries in the study area. No specific reports are prepared of these data; however, observers’ report are collected and archived. Biological data are held by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO). Otoliths are sent to a central aging facility and also archived.
41. South Africa, though entitled to place observers on vessels did so for only one trip in 2000; this observer’s sea trip covered two boats. Species composition data, biodiversity, length frequency and (small quantities of) otoliths were collected together with sex and gonad maturity data. However, no specific analysis has yet been undertaken.
42. Ukrainian research vessels used standard logbooks that recorded cruise number, date, sequential number of tow, tow coordinates, length and time of the tow, fishing gear code, depth of the tow, speed of the trawling, vertical trawl opening, mesh size and catch by species. Biological data collected included lengths, weight, stomach fullness and contents, sex/maturity information, gonad weight and size frequency data of the principle species. Great amounts of biological information were collected during research and searching cruises and much data were collected during the Soviet era, only some of which has been published. While the biological samples are no longer available, data records still exist - in Russian - as hard copy. Information is provided in Meeting Document 02/07.
43. Ukraine has no unified national legislation concerning regulation of fisheries on the high seas and EEZs of coastal states except a general decree of the Cabinet of the Ministers of the Ukraine. It has no specified reporting requirements. So regulation of reporting of vessels activity is varied and depends on the ocean area, the international body responsible for the management of the fisheries of the area and membership of Ukraine in the fisheries organisations. This year the Ministry of Agrarian Policy of Ukraine submitted to the Ukrainian Parliament draft amendments to the Law on licensing of business activity, which considers all fishery and aquaculture activity subject to licensing. Reporting requirements and obligations to take scientific observers onboard fishing vessel by YugNIRO request is an integral part of the licence. Thus the Ukrainian view is that the adoption of the amendments will provide the State Committee for Fisheries with the legal instruments needed for monitoring of fishing activity and collection of catch and effort statistics from Ukrainian-flagged vessels.
44. Biological data on commercial vessels was not collected until 1991. Starting from 1992 scientific observers collected data from one tow each day for all voyages except two.
45. Namibia reported no research data from the Indian Ocean, however they have detailed operations data for their vessels. It is possible that biological data were collected by commercial vessel operators.
46. Government sources in New Zealand do not have any vessel operations data as such; rather it has been collected by the industry. However, marine observers will be placed on vessels as from 1 May 2002.
47. Japan reported that it did not have an observer system and there was no obligation on vessel operators to report tow-by-tow data though vessel probably record this information. There is no explicit identification of fish species - orange roughy and alfonsinos are identified, but not other species. However, fishermen’s logs may contain some data. Data from the surveys in the 1970s are available (Meeting Document 02/6).
48. In the case of France, little data are available for areas outside of their EEZ but the data that are available are detailed. Concerns exist about standards for some measurements, especially fish lengths and the wish was expressed to establish a recommended length measure (e.g. fork, standard, length, etc.).
