CCAMLR

This paper summarises inter-sessional work by WG-EMM-STAPP between 2009 and 2011 aimed at estimating krill consumption by pack ice seals, fur seals, penguins and flying seabirds in small scale management units (SSMUs) in Area 48 and in other CCAMLR Areas, and outlines a plausible timeframe for remaining tasks. Substantial progress has been made in estimating predator population sizes, reviewing diet and developing energetics models. The major task now requiring attention for estimation of krill consumption for SSMUs is the development of foraging distribution models for fur seals and penguins, and at-sea abundance distribution models for flying seabirds, to partition at-sea consumption by the estimated populations into SSMUs.

This paper describes the general operation pattern of F/V Fukuei-Maru to help understand the actual condition of fishing and processing Antarctic krill in Japanese commercial trawl fishery. Special attention is paid to the calculation of green weight and conversion factors.

The spatial-temporal dynamics of standardized abundance indices of krill in Area 48 based on the CCAMLR catch statistics was analyzed using GLMM with Tweedie’s distribution.In the yesteryear the authors revealed “diagnostics specificity” of GLMM tuning for CPUE standardization: many hauls to be interpreted as “outliers”, i.e. the hauls where residuals significantly deviated from the normal distribution. In this study the approaches to improve the diagnostics of GLLM tuning by using aggregated haul-by-haul data are shown. The trends of CPUE spatial-temporal variability and the factors contributing this variability at different degree of aggregated fishery statistics have been presented. In additional the long-term patterns of krill fishery in the Subareas 48.1-48.3 were studied taking in account the spatial correlation and applying the Principle-Component Analysis.

Due to the need to distribute the krill catch limit in Statistical Area 48 so as to ensure that land-based predators are not affected by fishing activity, the Commission has adopted the interim Conservation Measure 51-07 (2009) since management advice on a SSMU krill catch limit allocation subdivision in Area 48 has not been agreed yet. CM 51-07 (2009) will expire in 2011 and still more scientific information is needed on krill distribution, abundance and variability, and on land-based predator demands to create comprehensive models that would allow providing management advice for SSMU allocation, therefore it is proposing to keep conditions of CM51-07 (2009) in force for two more fishing seasons.

Acoustically based estimates of Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) biomass, and net-based estimates of krill density and recruitment are recalculated for the years 1996 through 2011. Recent changes in the acoustic methodology and target strength models are the basis for the recalculation. The time series of acoustic biomass indicate that krill have varied by more than an order of magnitude over this time period. Current estimates for the South Shetland Islands region are 3.6, 1.9 and 1.35 million tons for the Elephant Island, West and South Areas, during leg 1. Recruitment estimated from net based data show that 2011 was a year of good recruitment, following two years of low recruitment. Krill biomass in the northern Gerlache Strait, an area of just over 1100 km2, exceeded 110 g m-2 which results in a biomass of more than 128 000 tons. Refining biomass estimates and estimates of recruitment will help to better inform CCAMLR about the status and trends of krill in Area 48.1 an area experiencing the most rapid climate change as well as population declines of major land-based predators.

Despite uncertainties about interactions between ecosystems and fisheries, the ability to adjust activity of the Antarctic krill fishery based on the state of krill-dependent predators is a recognized goal of the CCAMLR. We suggest that progress toward a feedback management approach can be made efficiently via the comparative approach. Specifically, changes due to an impact in one population can be assessed by measuring trends in the difference between the observed states of a “treatment” and a “control” population. As the states of these monitored populations change relative to each other, an impact in one population will cause the relative difference between them to change. Comparing trends in the difference between pre- and post-treatment states may provide information about the magnitude of impacts that are useful for a feedback management strategy. We use a simulation study to illustrate sensitivity to the choice of data and impact, and to suggest that useful comparisons can be made across space and across species. The results suggest that relatively minor changes in the rate of decline in treatment data or minor shifts in the mean of treatment data resulted in readily identifiable (probability ≥ 95%) differences in the relative behaviour of treatment and control populations over a short (5 yr) time horizon. Such sensitivity may prove useful for the detection of impacts in monitoring data and consequent management action.

The data of 18 expeditions fulfilled by AtlantNIRO during 1970-2000 in the central and eastern part of the Area 48 (Subareas 48.4 and 48.6) were summarized. Distribution of krill was analyzed with reference to the structure and dynamics of the water masses in the area of the Southern Sandwich Islands arc, the Bouveau Island, the Maude seamount, the southern part of the Lazarev Sea and up to the coastal zone of the Antarctic. It was demonstrated that in these areas in the frontal zone of the Weddell circulation and in the area of the Antarctic nearshore current the oceanographic conditions appeared favorable to formation of commercial krill aggregations, which might be attractive in biomass distribution to the fishing fleet operations during certain seasons. The Subareas 48.4 and 48.6 may become one of the probable directions of krill exploratory fishery in the Convention Area.

During the CCAMLR WG-EMM in July 2010, Aker Biomarine ASA offered to carry out a 5 day survey each year for the next five years in the CCAMLR statistical Subarea 48.2 using the Norwegian krill fishing vessel „Saga Sea‟. This report describes methodology, presents raw data and preliminary results from the first of these surveys, carried out in February 2011 near the South Orkney Islands

We have developed a Geographic information system (GIS) and accompanying metadata to store and deliver data on CCAMLR’s management units and spatially resolved conservation measures. The GIS facilitates easy mapping of CCAMLR’s spatial management framework and associated conservation measures. This paper describes the structure of the GIS database and provides example outputs. The utility of the GIS will be maximised by ensuring that it is kept up to date and easily accessible to stakeholders.

The Southern Ocean is a globally important marine region, providing a range of ecosystem services which support human life, health and well-being, including the provision of marine living resources, and the regulation of global climate and sea level. Assessing ecological processes in terms of the services they provide translates the complexity of the environment into functions which can be more readily understood, for example by policy-makers and non-scientists. Ecosystem-based management requires the consideration of a wide range of objectives, and the language and concepts of ecosystem services may help to provide a common currency for balancing these objectives. However, the importance of the Southern Ocean ecosystem is generally under-represented in assessments of ecosystem services at the global scale, reflecting the spatial separation of Southern Ocean ecosystem services and their beneficiaries. Equally the concept of ecosystem services is not generally used within the Antarctic Treaty System (ATS), creating a potential disconnect between global and regional policy. Nevertheless, decision making processes within the ATS are in many ways pre-adapted to deliver evidence-based policy which takes the current and future value of multiple ecosystem services into account. Also, much of the evidence gathering work which has been conducted to support decision making in the Antarctic context could relatively easily be adapted to fit an ecosystem services evaluation framework.
Here we provide a brief review of Southern Ocean ecosystem services, and outline preliminary work towards an assessment of their distribution, status and value. The benefits of assessing Southern Ocean ecosystem services in this way include (i) emphasising their global importance; (ii) facilitating comparisons of individual services across the ATS; (iii) facilitating consideration of the full suite of ecosystem services under the ATS; (iv) allowing comparability with global governance frameworks. This has particular relevance to the work of CCAMLR, given its responsibility for the maintenance and sustainable provision of living resource services from the Southern Ocean ecosystem, and the increasing need to communicate its role in ecosystem based management to a global audience of stakeholders.