CCAMLR

The requirements of an ecosystem approach to management of Southern Ocean resources are outlined. This highlights the need for information on harvested and dependent species their interaction and the manner in which their populations vary naturally. Large scale interactions are catered for the Krill Yield Model. Smaller scale interactions centre around three main categories, the availability of krill and variation in vital rates of the dependent species and the overlap between commercial fishing and predator foraging. The CCAMLR Ecosystem Monitoring Programme (CEMP) provides a good framework within which to investigate krill availability. Vital rates can be investigated directly and also with respect to CEMP. Overlap between fishing and predator foraging is being monitored. A mechanism for bringing these various components together as an ecosystem approach to management is discussed.

The Balleny Islands area contains special values which New Zealand believes are worthy of protection. New Zealand's past proposals have not yet achieved consensus support and the process for designating marine protection within the Antarctic Treaty System is not clearly established. New Zealand hopes that through a fully consultative process with CCAMLR partners, a new proposal which represents the best method of protecting the important values of the Balleny Islands would be developed for future presentation to CCAMLR. New Zealand also supports continued work on the processes for designating marine areas under both the CCAMLR and the ATCM's Environmental Protocol regimes.

Data from the krill questionnaire are presented for the Polish-flagged vessel Acamar fishing in Subarea 48.1 in March-June 2001; five questionnaires were completed. Submission of these data were delayed due to email communication problems with the vessel. This is the first set of questionnaires to be completed and returned to the Secretariat.

Vessels from Japan, Republic of Korea, Peru and the USA had participated in the conduct of five acoustic/oceanographic surveys from late December 1999 and to early March 2000 in conjunction with CCAMLR 2000 survey. Time-series acoustic data from the coordinated survey were analyzed. Excluding the highest and lowest surveys, biomass densities on three remaining surveys were 49.2 g m-2 (CV 19.5 %), 39.5 g m-2 (CV 15.2 %) and 43.0 g m-2 (CV 14.1 %) over a nine-week period. Maps of biomass density for each of the surveys are presented, and examination of these maps suggests three consistent area of high krill density; near the east end of Elephant Island, mid-way between Elephant and King George Islands, and near Cape Shirreff on the north side of Livingston Island. It appears that highest densities of krill move closer to the shelf break as the season progresses. This apparent movement is complemented by a change in the demographic structure of the population. The smaller size modes disappear and krill are more sexually mature later in the summer. If the lowest estimate is treated as the result of measurement errors, then the consistency between the four other surveys suggests low variability in krill biomass north of South Shetland Islands throughout the summer of 1999/2000. Future work analyses could include analyses of patch sizes and densities along transects as a means of investigating variations in krill availability to predators under conditions of constant krill biomass density. Additional oceanographic observation together with satellite-derived information could be jointly analyzed to explain variations in krill abundance and dispersion patterns.