Found in Scotia Sea region; Ross Sea (Ref. 5200), and commonly seen in Prdyz Bay (Ref. 6390)

Commercial fishery: Spiny icefish are caught by demersal otter trawling on the continental shelf in Prydz Bay. Spiny icefish are also caught by demersal otter trawling on the shallow banks to the west, between Cape Darnley and Mawson. They have also been caught on the Gunnerus Bank (33°E), the Antarctic Peninsula and South Shetland Islands.

Spiny icefish are taken by trawlers from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) of the former USSR (Ref. 28912). Catches of spiny icefish up to 1993 were between 279 t and 1816 t annually since 1985.

In the Antarctic Peninsula area, over 10,000 t of spiny icefish were caught in 1979, 4320 t in 1980 and virtually nothing since then. All catches were taken by vessels from the CIS (Ref. 28913).

In the CIS, spiny icefish are marketed as frozen fillets or headed and gutted fish. As of 1993, there are no markets for this species in Australia.

Resource status: Spiny icefish are probably not fully exploited. However, the total resource in these waters is likely to be small. Also Ref. 33047.