CTD Data from the toothfish fishery at Heard Island and McDonald Island

Australian vessels fishing in the Commonwealth managed fishery for Patagonian Toothfish and mackerel icefish in the Heard Island and MacDonald Island area deployed conductivity, temperature and depth (CTD) loggers attached to their fishing gear. In most cases CTDs were deployed on demersal longlines but in some cases they were attached to trawl nets and traps. Data were collected on five fishing vessels during the fishing seasons of 2019/20 and 2020/21

The data were collected with a CTD (Conductivity, Temperature and Depth Recorder) from the Sea Mammal Research Unit (SMRU) at St Andrew’s University Scotland. Files were downloaded with their TagConfig software in text (.txt) format. Recordings were made at (typically) 1 second intervals for the duration of the fishing event, recording data throughout the water column while setting the gear, then while fishing on the sea floor and again through the water column when the gear was retrieved. Each data file has data on date/time, pressure referenced to surface pressure (dbar), absolute pressure (dbar), temperature (°C), conductivity *mS/cm) and salinity (psu). The data are currently not linked to geographical coordinates which are confidential, but these may be able to be released on contact with the data owner and subject to appropriate confidentiality arrangements. Number of deployments: 2019/20: 25 2020/21: 27