The area, an internationally known fishing ground is exploited yearly by more than 400 vessels. These buoys belong to a longliner, one of the fishing techniques mainly used in the area.

Longliners cast lines which may be thousands of meters long with baited hooks and buoys with GPS, to be able to retrieve the catch after some hours.
Longline fisheries have been estimated to kill 50,000–100,000 seabirds annually. This technique is also a threat to marine mammals and sharks, which are also attracted to the bait, besides the targeted species, which in this area is mostly Patagonian Toothfish.