MELBOURNE, Nov. 7 (Xinhua) -- A study using two decades of monitoring data found that benthic fish stocks and species richness have increased around Heard Island and McDonald Islands (HIMI), Australia's remote territory in the Southern Ocean.
The data, gathered since the late 1990s through an annual monitoring program, revealed that despite a changing ocean, the distribution and abundance of benthic fish species have increased in the area, according to a statement released late Thursday by Australia's University of Tasmania (UTAS), which led the study.
"We found that benthic fish species stocks have increased, including species like Eaton's skate, Grey rockcod, and deep-water Grenadiers which are a by-catch species of particular interest," said UTAS marine ecologist and study lead author Joel Williams.
"Most strikingly, species richness, the number of species detected in a single sample, more than doubled," Williams said, attributing the gains to "removing illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, changing fishing practices to reduce bycatch, marine reserve protection, and possibly climate-driven increases in ocean productivity."
IUU fishing was stamped out in the early 2000s thanks to a joint effort by the Australian and French governments to increase surveillance, and satellite monitoring and other technologies now help patrol the Southern Ocean, the statement said.
The HIMI fishery historically relied on trawling, which caused high bycatch and benthic habitat damage. Since 2003, the industry shifted to long-line fishing, greatly reducing trawling. This change would have allowed seafloor habitats to recover and fish communities to thrive, Williams said.
HIMI supports well-managed, sustainable and lucrative fisheries targeting Mackerel Icefish and the Patagonian toothfish which is highly sought after in top restaurants around the world, said the study.
The HIMI region is a biodiversity and climate change hotspot, supporting large populations of seals and penguins, and a unique demersal fish community with endemic species found nowhere else on Earth, researchers said, calling for ongoing monitoring to understand ecological changes in the Southern Ocean. ■
