CCAMLR

On the results of some field materials collected from 2002 till 2008, on the basis of length composition analysis of individuals, weight of females’ gonads and sex ratio an attempt was made to select locations and periods of Antarctic toothfish mass spawning in some areas of the Pacific Ocean and Indian Ocean sectors of the Antarctic. In the Ross Sea area the most probable areas are the Pacific Antarctic Ridge and the Amundsen Ridge in the Amundsen Sea area. In the Cooperation Sea area the most possible mass spawning place is the Banzare Bank. Obviously, the mass spawning is stretched and falls on the winter season, sometimes covering part of autumn or spring season.

Two species of deep-sea skates (Rajidae, Chondrichthyes) are newly recorded from the slope of the Crozet Archipelago. Specimens are preserved in collections, morpho-anatomical observations and molecular Barcoding are currently in process to identify that species.

Scientific data were obtained during the fishery cruise of Spanish long-liner «Tronio» in the areas of the Ross Sea and the Antarctic continental shelf (statistical subareas 88.1 and 58.4.1) outside the exclusive (marine) economic zones of foreign states, in the period from 5 November, 2007 till 24 March, 2008. In the paper size characteristics of Antarctic and Patagonian toothfishes caught in different areas of the Antarctic shelf were given as well as characteristics of maturity level of gonads and nutrition of the examined fish.

We conducted a survey to investigate the factors influencing the number of seabirds attending a research vessel during scientific trawling activities near the northern Antarctic Peninsula. Our objective was to assess whether seabirds exhibited differing levels of attendance that may be attributed to fishing activity. Counts of seabirds attending the vessel were made during non-fishing periods, net deployment, towing, and retrieving. We also monitored environmental variables (e.g., pressure, wind speed and direction) and discards of fish and offal to determine whether they could be used to explain variability in seabird attendance. Three species, the Black-browed Albatross Thalassarche melanophrys, Cape Petrel Daption capense and Wilson’s Storm Petrel Oceanites oceanicus were the most common seabirds attending the vessel. We found that abundance of seabirds did not differ among fishing activities, although the presence of discard caused an increase in numbers of petrels and albatrosses. Our study is the first to examine seabird-vessel attendance to scientific trawling activities in Antarctic waters where there is a moratorium on commercial finfish fishing. By comparison to other studies, the level of fishing conducted during this study is not anywhere near that of commercial fishing (i.e., catch rate and fishing duration). Nevertheless, it is important to monitor seabird attendance to fishing vessels so that proper mitigation and conservation actions are met to protect seabirds.

The paper presents an estimate of IUU catches of toothfish during the 2007/08 fishing season, using the standard methodology.

CCAMLR Members monitor beached debris, entanglement of marine mammals, marine debris associated with seabird colonies and animals contaminated with hydrocarbons at a number of sites, primarily in Area 48. Overall non-fishing debris items (mostly packaging items) have made up the majority of debris reported from monitoring sites. Relatively large amounts of fishing items have been reported at Bird Island, South Georgia over the last 13 years, but only small amounts from the other sites. Since 1991, data on entanglements of Antarctic fur seals has been received from 3 Members for 4 different sites, however only two of these sites have reported data for consecutive seasons. The most common entangling materials were plastic packaging bands, synthetic string/longline and fishing nets. The Wandering albatross has more debris reported from its colonies than any other species monitored at Bird Island with the majority of debris items being fishing lines and hooks. A total of 49 cases of hydrocarbon soiling for 8 species of seabirds have been reported to the Secretariat. The Wandering albatross is the most frequently recorded and the most common type of soiling agent was oil. Plastic packaging bands have been found regularly at sites monitored for beach debris and entangled on fur seals, despite their prohibition (for securing bait boxes) or restricted use (other plastic packaging bands) in Conservation Measure 26-01. There is no evidence of a decrease in the occurrence of marine debris over the past 10 years at any of the sites monitored. Although the amount of beached marine debris reported from Bird Island and Signy Island, South Orkney in the last decade has decreased from the numbers reported in the mid-nineties. The Secretariat encourages all Members who collect marine debris information to submit it for inclusion in the CCAMLR Marine Debris database.