The 1982 Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources established the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) for the purpose of protecting and conserving the marine living resources in the waters surrounding Antarctica. The Convention is based upon an ecosystem approach to the conservation of marine living resources incorporating standards designed to ensure the conservation of individual populations and species and the Antarctic marine ecosystem as a whole. The United States is a Contracting Party to the Convention, as well as a member of CCAMLR.
Due to the scale of illegal, unregulated, or unreported (IUU) fishing for
toothfish in and beyond waters subject to CCAMLR, a Catch Documentation Scheme
(CDS) for toothfish was adopted in 1999. The CDS monitors international trade,
identifies the origins of imports, determines if imports caught in the Convention
Area are consistent with CCAMLR conservation measures, and provides catch
data for stock assessments. Currently 21 contracting parties, as well as 3
non-contracting parties, of CCAMLR have implemented the CDS.
Although the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has fully implemented
the CDS in the United States, it recognizes that improvements can be made both
to streamline the administration of the program and to enhance efforts to prevent
the import of illegally harvested toothfish. NMFS, therefore, has modified
the current regulations to implement a preapproval system which allows NMFS
to review catch documentation in advance of import, thus providing additional
economic certainty to U.S. businesses associated with the toothfish trade,
as well as facilitating enforcement efforts.
More information on the CCAMLR CDS can be found at the:
Commission
for the Conservation of Antarctic Living Marine Resources Homepage 
More information on the U.S. CDS trade permit program can be found at:
