Austral Fisheries currently uses Port Louis, Mauritius as the unloading port for its Southern Fleet. The crew on our Southern Fleet come from all over the world and include Australians, New Zealanders, Russians, Irish, South Africans, Namibians, Chileans, Indonesians and Mauritians.
We have three vessels operating in the sub-Antarctic, the Southern Champion, a trawler that fishes for MSC certified Patagonian toothfish and MSC certified Mackerel icefish (this vessel also spends some time fishing the Southern Indian Ocean High Seas). We also have two longline vessels that catch MSC certified Patagonian toothfish, the Austral Leader II, and the recently purchased Isla Eden, both of which use world leading mitigation techniques for longlining to minimise seabird bycatch. The Austral Leader II has also developed the trap fishing method for toothfish which further mitigates interaction with seabirds, as well as avoiding any interactions with marine mammals.
Southern Champion
The Southern Champion is an 87m factory stern trawler, built in Viareggio, Italy in 1974 and was originally named the Giljanes. It was purchased by Austral Fisheries in 1998.
The Southern Champion is capable of staying at sea for around 100 days and can carry up to 35 crew, which includes two observers. In the sub-Antarctic, this vessel can process around 45t of product per day; though in warmer temperatures of the southern Indian Ocean, only processes around 25t.
Austral Leader II
The Austral Leader II is a 60m long liner / trapper factory vessel. Built in Norway, 1974, it was originally a purse seiner, the Stromegg II. In 2007 it was purchased by Austral Fisheries and modified to a long lining / trapping vessel in Lyttelton, New Zealand. In 2012 the vessel was stretched a further 8m at the CNOI shipyard in Mauritius to add further accommodation and storage on board.
Isla Eden
The Isla Eden was purchased by Austral Fisheries in 2012 and sailed its maiden voyage for the company from Norway to Mauritius in 2013. It is a 1994 Norwegian built 50m longliner, that specialises in catching Austral’s MSC certified Patagonian toothfish.
