Tristan da Cunha rock lobster

MSC status

Certified as sustainable in June 2011.

Summary

Species:  Rock Lobster (Jasus tristani)
Location: Tristan da Cunha islands (Tristan da Cunha, Gough, Nightingale and Inaccessible)
Fishing methods:  Baited open-ended lobster traps, hoop-nets & semi-cylindrical traps.
Vessels: 1
Number of fisheries: 1

More about rock lobster

The Tristan rock lobster has a disjunct distribution, occurring only around the central South Atlantic islands of Tristan da Cunha, Nightingale, Inaccessible, Gough Island and Vema Seamount. These islands are volcanic and rise from abyssal depths to the surface, thus separating benthic populations associated with each island. The species occurs on rocky substrata from the shore down to approximately 200 m depth.

More about the fishing methods

Three types of gear are used in the fishery: box traps, monster traps and hoop nets. Box traps are deployed from small boats around all four islands, hoop nets are deployed from powerboats at Tristan only, and monster traps are deployed from the Edinburgh at the three outer islands (not Tristan). A standard mesh size of 70 mm is used on all the traps. All three gear types are open – i.e. lobster entering the traps can also exit at will by the same opening. There is therefore no risk of ghost fishing by lost traps, and no need for escape gaps to release undersized lobster.

Fishery tonnage

In the 2008/09 fishing season, the landing tonnage was 435 metric tonnes.

Commercial market

Japan and the USA.

Actual eligibility date

Date of certification: 20th June 2011