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 A that has been presented at the meeting of the CCAMLR Scientific Committee in 2014. The Scientific Committee had welcomed and endorsed the scientific background document (SC-CAMLR-XXXIII/BG/02) as a foundation reference for the Weddell Sea MPA planning (SC-CAMLR-XXXIII, § 5.21). Part A was further developed in the 2014/15 intersessional period and contains (i) a synopsis in terms of the establishment of MPAs (chapter 1); (ii) a description of the boundaries of the WSMPA planning area (chapter 2); (iii) a comprehensive, yet succinct, general description of the Weddell Sea ecosystem (chapter 3); (iv) and finally a guidance regarding the future work beyond the development of the scientific basis for the evaluation of a WSMPA (chapter 4).

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

At the recent CCAMLR Symposium held in Chile in May 2015, an issue that was discussed was improving CCAMR’s outreach and cooperation.  In this context some participants suggested that it would be beneficial for CCAMLR to have an ongoing dialogue with relevant States that manage toothfish fisheries outside the CCAMLR Area. 

In response to the discussion at the Symposium Australia has compiled a background paper outlining Australia’s management of the subantarctic Macquarie Island toothfish fishery.  The Macquarie Island toothfish fishery is managed by Australia consistently with the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources and the conservation measures adopted by the Commission.

This report is being submitted to contribute to ongoing structured dialogue between CCAMLR and relevant States that manage toothfish fisheries outside the CCAMLR Area.

At WG-SAM-15, Japan indicated it would submit a revised proposal on the design of research block 48.6_4 to WG-FSA-15. Here we propose the westward expansion of the research block along the continental shelf-slope to promote sufficient utilization of the catch limit, which would enable us to complete planned research and support a more reliable stock assessment. The revised design may also contribute to detecting tagged fish that had moved out of research block 48.6_4 to the continental slope/shelf.

The 2014/15 CCAMLR fishing season has seen significant progress in the fight to combat Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing by vessels on the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) Non-Contracting Party (NCP) IUU vessel list. This paper outlines the recent actions taken by Australia and its near neighbours, including through the Regional Plan of Action to Promote Responsible Fishing Practices Including Combatting IUU Fishing (RPOA-IUU) and notes that international cooperation has been instrumental in the successes seen in 2014/15.

Australia has undertaken an analysis of information relating to the Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing vessel (FV) Kunlun. The vessel was boarded on 26 February 2015 outside the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources Area (CCAMLR Area) in order to verify its right to fly its flag, pursuant to Article 110 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Information obtained during the boarding has informed this analysis.

This analysis is provided to support CCAMLR members in their efforts to investigate or undertake other enforcement action in relation to CCAMLR Non-Contracting Party (NCP) IUU vessels.

Based on our analysis, Australia concludes that:

• Combined international efforts effectively shortened the FV Kunlun’s fishing campaign in the Convention Area in 2014-15

• The majority of fishing was undertaken off the Antarctic coast not far from Australia’s Mawson Research Station in Statistical Division 58.4.2 (SSRU D) between 26 – 31 January 2015

• The average Dissostichus spp greenweight catch rate per gillnet was approximately 4,038kgs

• The vessel spent three weeks fishing for a total catch of 181 tonnes (processed weight from the verified factory production records) that has an estimated value of $USD3.67 million

• On average, demersal gillnets used in 2014-15 fishing season were approximately 4.3 nautical miles in length and took approximately half an hour to set, with multiple sets undertaken per day

The vessel’s catch and effort data did not match the verified factory production records. As a result, it is more likely that the data obtained by the Australian authorities does not represent the FV Kunlun’s daily fishing logbook but is a sample of the fishing activity of three separate vessels, FV Yongding (Zemour 1), FV Kunlun and FV Songhua (Zemour 2).

This paper summarises the implementation of conservation measures dealing with fishing and related activities in the 2014/15 fishing season (CM 41-01 to 41-11, 42-01, 42-02, 51-01 to 51-03, 51-07) including notifications of encounters with vulnerable marine ecosystems (VME) or potential VMEs (CM 22-06, 22-07).