According to the Antarctic Treaty, which came into force in 1961, Antarctica is an area free from military and industrial activity. International cooperation is aimed at the development of scientific research and biological resources in the Southern Ocean. The regulations on such activities are set forth in the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources and are governed by the Commission (CCAMLR). Due to the problem of natural resource depletion and the imminent expiration date of the Antarctic Treaty, nations are more actively showing an interest in this region and participating in dialogue on the establishment of a system of special-use areas in the Ross Sea and East Antarctica. The establishment of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) implies a ban on the conduct of scientific and fishing activities, thereby ruling out the presence of many countries in Antarctica. Moreover, reducing the number of research programmes could lead to an even more acute lack of data on the function of ecosystems in and the impact of climate change on the Southern Ocean, and, as a result, the conservation of Antarctic bioresources becomes impossible. Instead of MPAs, the Russian Federation proposes to establish Areas of Special Scientific Interest in three sectors of Antarctica.

Research program in the Weddell Sea in season 2015/2016 and the following seasons presented by the Russian Federation was prepared in accordance with recommendations of the Scientific committee (SC-CAMLR-XXXIII, 2014, par. 3.233) and originates from the program developed by the Russian Federation and adopted by the SC in 2012 (WG-FSA-12/12). Past WG-SAM-2015 (Warsaw, Poland) made no scientifically-supported comment regarding the presented document (WG-SAM-15/18). The only note was that consideration of the Russian program could be continued after completing analysis of the data from f/v “Yantar-35” obtained by the vessel in 2014. But, the Convention and Conservation Measures in force (Schedule of Conservation Measures …, 2014) do not prohibit conducting research and investigation in parallel as unrelated processes.

This paper describes an update to the CASAL assessment of Patagonian toothfish (D. eleginoides) in Subarea 48.4. The assessment data time series are updated with the observations for the 2014/15 season and several minor changes to the assessment are made: revision of tagging and recapture data for the full time series, a revised maturity ogive, and changes to the assumed tag growth retardation period. Stock projections indicate that the stock is in healthy condition and that an annual yield of 47 tonnes is consistent with the application of the CCAMLR harvest control rule. Data deficiencies and areas for future work to further improve the assessment are identified.

Russian Federation is going to continue investigation for toothfish in Ross Sea in fishing seasons 2015-2018. The present program aims to recapture tagged fishes released during the implementation of the previous research program took place in 2010-2012 fishing seasons and investigate resource potential and life cycle of Dissostichus species within the eastern part of the Ross Sea over shelf and continental slope within the Subarea 88.2 A. The present document is a new edition of the CCAMLR Document WG-SAM-15/21 revised in accordance with the WG-SAM recommendations (WG-SAM-15, pp. 4.37-4.42).

At its 2014 meeting, WG-FSA recommended that details of fishing gear used in trawl surveys (in addition to longline research) should be submitted to the CCAMLR fishing gear ‘library’ (SC-CAMLR-XXXIII p 3.76). This paper provides detailed diagrams of the FP-120 net which has been used for sampling demersal fishes on the UK groundfish survey in CCAMLR subarea 48.3 since 1991.

A stratified bootstrap of icefish catch density based on the UK 2015 demersal fish survey catch rate data indicated a biomass of 59,081 tonnes (lower one sided 5^th percentile: 36,530 tonnes) within Statistical Subarea 48.3. Projections for the 2015/16 and 2016/17 seasons applying the CCAMLR harvest control rule lead to catch limits (TAC) of 3,461 tonnes for 2015/16 and 2,074 tonnes for 2016/17.

Marine debris data were collected at Bird Island and King Edward Point, South Georgia, at Signy Island, South Orkneys and at Goudier Island, Antarctic Peninsula for the period April 2014 to March 2015. Surveys of beached marine debris at Bird Island recorded a total of 289 and 275 items during winter (April to September 2014) and summer (October 2014 to March 2015) respectively. For the first time since records began (in 1991), surveys at Signy Island (operational during summer only; 24 November 2014 to 16 March 2015) recorded no incidences of beached marine debris. One item of beached marine debris was recorded at Goudier Island. The first record of an entangled juvenile elephant seal was made at Bird Island. Entanglements of five Antarctic fur seals were observed at Bird Island, six at King Edward Point, with no marine mammal entanglements observed at Signy Island or Goudier Island. In total, 132 items of marine debris were found in association with seabird colonies at Bird Island, most commonly in association with wandering albatrosses (88 items). Two incidences of entangled wandering albatrosses were recorded, one adult and one chick. There were no observed incidences of hydrocarbon soiling at any site during the reporting period. Overall, the occurrence of beached marine debris was above the long-term mean at Bird Island during both winter and summer. The incidence of marine mammal entanglements was below the long-term mean at all sites surveyed. Debris associated with seabird colonies was above the mean level for wandering albatrosses and grey-headed albatrosses, but below the mean for black-browed albatrosses and giant petrels.

Germany intends to present the Scientific Committee the scientific background and justification for the development of a marine protected area (MPA) in the Weddell Sea planning area. In accordance with the recommendations by WG-EMM-14 (SC-CAMLR-XXIII, Annex 6), this was done in three separate documents (Part A-C). SC-CAMLR-XXXIV/BG/15 (Part A) sets out the general context of the establishment of MPAs and provides the background information on the Weddell Sea MPA (WSMPA) planning area; SC-CAMLR-XXXIV/BG/16 (Part B) informs on the data retrieval process and SC-CAMLR-XXXIV/BG/17 (Part C) describes the means and the results of the scientific analyses and the development of objectives and priority areas for a Weddell Sea MPA.

Here, the delegation of Germany intends to update the Scientific Committee on the current state of Part C that was further developed in the 2014/15 intersessional period. Chapter 1 contains an update of the data analysis that has been presented in our background document SC-CAMLR-XXXIII/BG/02, and had welcomed and endorsed as a foundation reference document for the Weddell Sea MPA planning by the Scientific Committee (SC-CAMLR-XXXIII, § 5.21). Chapter 2 provides a systematic overview of the newly conducted MPA scenario development. The proposed objectives (subchapter 2.1) and priority areas for a WSMPA (subchapter 2.4) are intended to be incorporated in the WSMPA proposal.

Please note that this document already reflects a number of the recommendations made by WG-EMM 15. Further improvements and extensions that were proposed by WG-EMM 15 will be presented to WG-EMM in 2016 with a view for the Scientific Committee to approve Part C at its meeting in 2016.

Germany intends to present the Scientific Committee the scientific background and justification for the development of a marine protected area (MPA) in the Weddell Sea planning area. In accordance with the recommendations by WG-EMM-14 (SC-CAMLR-XXIII, Annex 6), this was done in three separate documents (Part A-C). SC-CAMLR-XXXIV/BG/15 (Part A) sets out the general context of the establishment of MPAs and provides the background information on the Weddell Sea MPA (WSMPA) planning area; SC-CAMLR-XXXIV/BG/16 (Part B) informs on the data retrieval process and SC-CAMLR-XXXIV/BG/17 (Part C) describes the means and the results of the scientific analyses and the development of objectives and priority areas for a Weddell Sea MPA.

Here, the delegation of Germany intends to update the Scientific Committee on the current state of Part B that was further developed in the 2014/15 intersessional period. Chapter 1 describes the environmental data sets that were acquired for the evaluation of MPAs in the Weddell Sea planning area. Chapter 2 provides a systematic overview of the current data situation regarding ecological data sets. Most data sets are already presented in our background document SC-CAMLR-XXXIII/BG/02, which the Scientific Committee had welcomed and endorsed as a foundation reference document for the Weddell Sea MPA planning (SC-CAMLR-XXXIII, § 5.21).

Please note that this document constitutes the final version of Part B of the WSMPA background document (subject to final editorial corrections and changes).