The paper reports on the outcomes of the first Future of Antarctica Forum that Oceanites, Inc. convened and held February 28 – March 9, 2016 in the Antarctic Peninsula, and work that has proceeded subsequent to the Forum. Major Antarctic stakeholders were present during the Forum, including representatives from the tourism and fishing industries, all of whom actively engaged in these discussions and made it clear that they have shared objectives. All stakeholder participants agreed on the importance of continued monitoring of the sensitive Antarctic Peninsula region and challenged Oceanites, because of its Antarctic Site Inventory project’s 22-year history monitoring this region, to ‘distinguish the direct and interactive effects of climate change, fishing, tourism, and national operations on ecosystems in the Antarctic Peninsula region for improved environmental management’. Oceanites accepted the challenge to bring together and analyse relevant data, with assistance as possible from the Forum participants, and with encouragement to keep the ATCM, CCAMLR, and all stakeholders informed as this effort proceeds. In particular, with assistance from IAATO and the Association of Responsible Krill Fishers (ARK), it is hoped that analyses can assist management of krill in the vicinity of penguin breeding and foraging locations.  

The analysis of the toothfish fishery data in the northern part of the Ross Sea (SSRU 88.1 B, C and G) was performed using haul-by-haul data from the CCAMLR database for the period 1997-2015.  The variability of catch per haul (kg) and CPUE (kg/1000 hooks) depending on the hauling duration (min) and hauling speed   (min/1000 hooks) were analyzed.

Our analysis shows that there is a possible presence of  number of high CPUE and catches , which are outside the  upper limit of confidence interval of 99,7% CI. These CPUE and catch values are statistically unreliable and questionable high with respect to the fishery data in the year under consideration.  It was shown that total questionable catch within SSRU as well as questionable catches obtained by State flagged vessels may be significant.   It is necessary to clarify of how   questionable catches and CPUE were obtained and how such questionable catches should be treated.   

It was also shown that the current approach to analyze longline fishery data in the presence of questionable CPUE values does not allow revealing adequate information for decision-making.

The move from Stage 1 to 2 in feedback management (FBM) for the Antarctic krill fishery is of critical importance to CCAMLR. Useful proposals at WG-EMM-16 this year highlighted strategies that could be used to do this, and ASOC encourages CCAMLR to develop a plan for discussion of these proposals and to improve the collection of data needed to implement them. In particular, the enhancement of data collection by fishing operators and from CEMP will be critical to progressing FBM. Another outstanding need is the ability to quantify krill flux, a factor that creates considerable uncertainty for management of the fishery. Finally, CCAMLR should re-examine the data sampling program for the krill observer program and make changes as necessary to improve the quality of data collected. In general, CCAMLR should give high priority to obtaining the data required for FBM and agreeing a strategy for putting FBM into practice.

Marine mammal interactions with fisheries are a growing major world-wide issue with both substantial ecological and economic consequences. Most longline fisheries operating around the world are seriously affected by these interactions i.e. marine mammals eating fish directly from fishing gear.

To begin addressing these issues globally, the first international workshop dedicated to odontocete depredation on demersal longlines operating in high latitudes was organised by the Coalition of Legal Toothfish Operators (COLTO) in Punta Arenas, March 2016. This workshop emphasised the urgent need to find global solutions to this issue.

The workshop concluded that routine data collection framework across fisheries confronted with interactions with odontocetes is important for a better understanding of depredation and for solutions to be developed, both locally and globally.

Using the COLTO workshop as an excellent example of international science, industry, government and NGO collaboration, this resulting document aims to provide basic guidelines for observer programmes that are relatively new to dealing with marine mammal interactions or are interested in expanding their observation efforts. It is based on ten years of experience around the islands of Kerguelen and Crozet (Southern Indian Ocean).

Depredation caused by killer whales and sperm whales on the Patagonian toothfish (Dissostichus eleginoides) fishery off Kerguelen and Crozet EZs are amongst the most important in the Southern Ocean. This paper presents the first results of depredation rates calculated on a yearly basis using the CPUE method.

Being able to correctly identify species is crucial in observer’s tasks and data quality implies very good knowledge from observers. Identification quality is related to observer’s training and resources provided by technical coordinators.

This document is updating the original tool described in WG-FSA-15/75, developed as  a “serious game” for observers to more easily learn species names before to go at sea or when steaming for example.

Preliminary results of a pop-up satellite tag (PSAT) on large Antarctic toothfish are described in this report. The toothfish was caught in the Mawson Sea in Feb 2015 and released with a PSAT by a Korean scientific observer. The same observer recovered the fish a year later. The days of liberty were over a year (366 days). The vertical movement of the fish shows strong and contrasting patterns. The most significant pattern was the fish staying at the same depth for a couple months. The vigorous diel vertical movement period followed after. It occurred during winter to early spring that it may be indicating the possibility of a spawning behavior.

We measured concentrations of 15 perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) in muscle tissues of Antarctic toothfish (n=113), and investigated accumulation patterns of PFCs in female and male muscles. The total PFCs (Σ₁₅PFCs) were ND (not detected) to 2.98 ng/g wet weight (ww) in muscle tissues with 0.32 ng/g ww of median concentration. The main compounds among PFCs were perfluoro-n-hexanoic acid and perfluoro-n-pentanoic acid. PFCs concentrations and compositions were significantly different between male and female. The levels of PFCs in the present study are comparable to those reported in 31 fish species from Korean coastal waters (0.27-4.81 ng/g ww). The concentrations of Perfluoro-1-octanesulfonate in the present study were much lower than environmental quality standard for biota (9.1 ng/g ww) by EU Water Framework Directive.