From Australian Oceans Data Network
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Elephant Seal and Toothfish interations in longline fisheries

Created 23/06/2025

Updated 23/06/2025

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Edited version of a video showing three elephant seals interacting with a toothfish longline. Taken from the abstract of the referenced paper: Humans have devised fishing technologies that compete with marine predators for fish resources world-wide. One such fishery for the Patagonian toothfish (Dissostichus eleginoides) has developed interactions with a range of predators, some of which are marine mammals capable of diving to extreme depths for extended periods. A deep-sea camera system deployed within a toothfish fishery operating in the Southern Ocean acquired the first-ever video footage of an extreme-diver, the southern elephant seal (Mirounga leonina), depredating catch from longlines set at depths in excess of 1000m. The interactions recorded were non-lethal, however independent fisheries observer reports confirm elephant seal-longline interactions can be lethal. The seals behaviour of depredating catch at depth during the line soak-period differs to other surface-breathing species and thus presents a unique challenge to mitigate their by-catch. Deployments of deep-sea cameras on exploratory fishing gear prior to licencing and permit approvals would gather valuable information regarding the nature of interactions between deep diving/dwelling marine species and longline fisheries operating at bathypelagic depths. Furthermore, the positive identification by sex and age class of species interacting with commercial fisheries would assist in formulating management plans and mitigation strategies founded on species-specific life-history strategies.

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Field Value
Title Elephant Seal and Toothfish interations in longline fisheries
Language eng
Licence Not Specified
Landing Page https://data.gov.au/data/dataset/9b933fb7-3229-41b0-906a-39f2b46db850
Contact Point
Australian Ocean Data Network
metadata@aad.gov.au
Reference Period 07/07/2010 - 03/05/2011
Geospatial Coverage
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors
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  "type": "Polygon"
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Data Portal Australian Oceans Data Network

Data Source

This dataset was originally found on Australian Oceans Data Network "Elephant Seal and Toothfish interations in longline fisheries". Please visit the source to access the original metadata of the dataset:
https://catalogue.aodn.org.au/geonetwork/srv/eng/csw/dataset/elephant-seal-and-toothfish-interations-in-longline-fisheries