Oceanites, Inc. is a US-based, nonprofit, scientific, and educational organization under US law, which was founded in 1987. Its mission is to advance science-based conservation and to increase the awareness of climate change, its potential impacts, and climate change adaptation through the lens of Antarctic penguins.

This report summarizes activities of Oceanites since CCAMLR-XXXVIII and SC-CAMLR-XXXVIII, including: 

• Results from the latest, 26th consecutive field season of the Antarctic Site Inventory 

• Update on the Mapping Application for Penguin Populations and Projected Dynamics (MAPPPD) database and its use within the Antarctic Treaty system and in CCAMLR

• Voluntary Krill Fishing Buffer Zones 

• Re-analysis of Gentoo Penguin Populations in the Antarctic Peninsula 

• State Of Antarctic Penguins 2020 Report and Penguin Population Changes 

• Update on Climate Analyses

• Recent, Notable Scientific Papers Relating to MAPPPD.

This paper summarises information held by the Secretariat in relation to IUU fishing and vessel activity relevant to CCAMLR from August 2019 to August 2020. Instances of unidentified fishing gear retrieved in the Convention Area are detailed in Annex 1. There are two vessels proposed for inclusion on the Draft CP-IUU Vessel List, the Panamanian-flagged Nika and the Russian-flagged Palmer.

Last 15 years (since 2005) a total catch of Antarctic krill in the Subarea 48 was sustainably increasing, remaining, however, under the trigger level of 620 000 tons. Analysis of the catch data shows that an intensity of krill fishing was slightly growing with use of traditional (conventional) trawls (krill catch by conventional trawls in 2019 is up to 46% higher than such catch in 2008), and the growing was much more significant in part of use of the continuous fishing system (a value of krill catch in 2019 with use of the continuous fishing system was registered at the level 460% of the such value in 2008).

Taking into account a step by step expansion of the continuous fishing system in the CCAMLR area, which can be considered as a strong factor for possible degradation of krill fishery by traditional (conventional) trawls, there is proposed to the WG-EMM-2020 to consider an applying a limitation to the continuous fishing system fishery within the Area 48, establishing that only up to 70% of the total allowable krill catch can be harvested with the continuous fishing system.

As part of the reseach plan in Subarea 88.3, scientific electronic monitoring was trialled by both the FV Greenstar and the FV Marigolds. Initial trials resulted in choosing two different systems (Saltwater Inc, and Hansael) which were both operational for the 2020 season. Both systems performed well under Antarctic conditions and show promise in assisting the data collection activities of observers. Unfortunately, the impacts of Covid-19 included closing the Saltwater Inc offices and data are not currently accessible.As part of the reseach plan in Subarea 88.3, scientific electronic monitoring was trialled by both the FV Greenstar and the FV Marigolds. Initial trials resulted in choosing two different systems (Saltwater Inc, and Hansael) which were both operational for the 2020 season. Both systems performed well under Antarctic conditions and show promise in assisting the data collection activities of observers. Unfortunately, the impacts of Covid-19 included closing the Saltwater Inc offices and data are not currently accessible.

The Antarctic Peninsula and Scotia Sea regional ecosystem and potentially management of the krill fishery are both experiencing rapid change. This includes warming, growth in krill catches, and increasingly concentrated fishing effort, all of which impact penguins and other predators. Further, the krill fishery is expanding into areas of East Antarctica unfished since the 1990s. Here ASOC identifies current priorities and future actions of importance for maintaining a healthy ecosystem in the context of the Antarctic krill fishery. ASOC recommends that:

• CCAMLR should be prepared to adopt an improved krill fishery management measure next year that strengthens protection for krill predators since Conservation Measure (CM) 51-07 will expire at the end of the 2020/21 fishing season. To provide the Commission with advice needed for the revision of CM 51-07, ASOC recommends that SC-CAMLR prioritize completion prior to the end of Working Group meetings in 2021 of all three priority elements of the 2019 krill management work plan – the biomass estimate, stock assessment, and in particular the risk assessment.

• CCAMLR should implement a revised management system by 2022-2023 that also includes regular krill surveys including in nearshore areas; reevaluation of stock and risk assessment models; a comprehensive revision of the CCAMLR Ecosystem Monitoring Plan (CEMP); explicit measures to increase resilience to climate change; and increased industry contributions to the scientific costs of an ecosystem-based management system.

• SC-CAMLR should develop catch and bycatch reporting methods to mitigate ecosystem impacts, including methods to accurately report catch despite differences in greenweight estimation techniques between vessels; and develop methods to evaluate and monitor fish and seabird bycatch in continuous mid-water trawl method, advising on mitigation measures.

All over the world, transhipment operations have been repeatedly identified as activities of concern to fisheries regulators due to their potential to help facilitate illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing. Moreover, CCAMLR’s Second Performance Review has recommended that CCAMLR improve its regulation of transhipment activities, but CCAMLR has failed to agree on new measures. CCAMLR has now fallen behind regional fisheries bodies, many of whom have adopted much stricter rules. ASOC therefore recommends that CCAMLR take action with respect to the following aspects of transhipment: • Reporting: CCAMLR should adopt a standardized reporting form and require reporting of all transhipment events. • Authorized vessels: CCAMLR should maintain a public list of authorized vessels that includes the vessel name, flag, type, registration number, authorizations period, and IMO number. • Monitoring: The Commission should mandate that all authorized carrier vessels carry a VMS transmitting simultaneously to both the flag State and Secretariat. • Chain of custody: The e-CDS should be amended to include the recording and tracing of all transhipped catches. • Declaration forms: CCAMLR should require use of a standardized transhipment declaration form. • Observer coverage: CCAMLR should explicitly require 100 percent observer coverage for all vessels involved in transhipments. • Transparency: CCAMLR should request the Secretariat to provide a detailed public annual summary report of all in-port and at-sea transhipment operations involving the transfer of catches from the Convention Area.

2020 has been an extremely unusual year due to the coronavirus pandemic. ASOC recognizes that this has required changes to the normal operation of CCAMLR and resulted in a limited number of items being included in the 2020 meeting agenda. However, the conservation issues that CCAMLR addresses have not been paused, and it remains urgent to address them. In this report, ASOC highlights some additional topics of relevance to CCAMLR and relevant work by ASOC and its members. ASOC recommends that CCAMLR continue to undertake work related to:

• Protecting cetaceans in the CCAMLR Area

• Increasing transparency and access to technical information

• Extending the IMO’s Polar Code to polar fishing vessels

• Addressing marine plastic pollution

Information is presented on a Workshop for Training Russian Scientific Observers and Inspectors to work in fisheries in the CAMLR Convention Area held at the AtlantNIRO Institute in Kaliningrad (17-21 August 2020).