A short history of the fisheries of Saint-Paul and Amsterdam

• Main Authors: Pruvost, P., Duhamel, Guy, Le Manach, Frederic, Palomares, Maria-Lourdes
• Other Authors: Laboratoire d'Ichtyologie générale et appliquée, Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN), Biologie des Organismes et Ecosystèmes Aquatiques (BOREA), Université de Caen Normandie (UNICAEN), Normandie Université (NU)-Normandie Université (NU)-Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université des Antilles (UA), Sea Around Us Project, University of British Columbia (UBC)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2015
• Subjects: [SDE.BE]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology; [SDE.MCG]Environmental Sciences/Global Changes; Antarctic; Saint-Paul; Antarc*; Antarctica; Antarctique*
• Online Access: https://mnhn.hal.science/mnhn-02921993; https://mnhn.hal.science/mnhn-02921993/document; https://mnhn.hal.science/mnhn-02921993/file/55047ca60cf24cee3a01396a.pdf

International audience The uninhabited islands of Saint Paul and Amsterdam (SPA), which are now part of the FrenchSouthern and Antarctic Territories (Territoires Australes et Antacrtiques Français or TAAF; seewww.taaf.fr) were exploited soon after France claimed them in 1843 for their marine mammalresources (seals, fur seals, whales), until the targeted species were nearly exterminated. This wasfollowed in the early 20th Century by a seasonal fishery for Patagonian rock lobster, Jasus paulensis(Heller 1862), conducted by vessels based in La Réunion. Various attempts at canning lobster failed,mostly under harrowing circumstances for those involved, whether from France, Madagascar or LaRéunion. However, since 1948, a sustainable model of exploitation of this resource appears to havebeen found, though quotas of this trap-caught lobster had to lowered and catches declined from80,000-100,000 t in the 1950s-1970s to about 40,000 t from 2000-2010. While the lobster catchdeclined, the (smaller) catch of fishes (notably St. Paul’s fingerfin, Nemadactylus monodactylus;hapuku wreckfish, Polyprion oxygeneios; bluenose warehou, Hyperoglyphe antarctica; and yellowtailamberjack, Seriola lalandi), fluctuates, reading a maximum of over 1,000 t in 1972-1974. TheMuseum of Natural History (MNHN) in Paris, which is tasked with monitoring this fishery, createdthe PECHEKER database, used for this catch reconstruction, and which we feel is reliable for thelobster fishery, but is very tentative for the fish catches, that could be estimated only approximately. Les îles de Saint-Paul et Amsterdam font partie des Territoires Australes et Antarctiques Français. Cesdeux îles font respectivement 8 et 58 km2. La zone économique (ZE) s’étend de 34°30’ à 42°00 Sud etde 73°12’ à 81°45’ Est elles couvrent 509 000 km2. Distantes l’une de l’autre de 90 km, elles sontconsidérées comme territoire français depuis 1843 après la prise de possession par le CapitaineDupeyrat, à bord de l’Olympe. Les Iles de Saint Paul et Amsterdam sont actuellement ...