Australia has an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) declared adjacent to its Antarctic territorial claims in East Antarctica. The EEZ in East Antarctica does not include an Australian Fishing Zone (AFZ), thus this area is effectively 'high seas' and the Australian fishing industry has no special privileges in this part of the Convention area. The Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) is responsible for the management of Antarctic toothfish fisheries within its Convention area in the Southern Ocean. CCAMLR has not adequately assessed Antarctic toothfish stocks in East Antarctica with tag-based stock assessments which has resulted in a highly precautionary approach for setting catch limits in the area, with small and potentially uneconomical catch limits spread across a number fishable blocks.

Australia has maintained a leadership role in CCAMLR and wishes to maintain the precautionary approach to meet environmental objectives as well as those of the fishing industry. This investment will delineate the structure and linkages of Antarctic toothfish stocks around Antarctica (particularly in East Antarctic) and develop assessment approaches to enable a reliable evaluation of stock biomass and the impact of the fishery on stock status in this area.