CCAMLR

Si para el 1 de diciembre de 2021 no se asigna una distribución en el tiempo y en el espacio para la captura total admisible de kril antártico (Euphausia superba) en el mar de Scotia, se pondrá en peligro la consecución del objetivo de la Convención sobre la Conservación de los Recursos Vivos Marinos Antárticos. El objetivo declarado en la Convención es la conservación (CCAMLR 1980), y la disposición de ordenación que reparte las capturas de kril por todo el mar de Scotia vence en el mes de noviembre. Esta disposición mitiga el riesgo de que la concentración de la pesca tenga efectos negativos sobre los depredadores del kril. A menos que los 26 Miembros de la Comisión para la Conservación de los recursos Vivos Marinos Antárticos (CCRVMA) alcancen un consenso para ampliar esta disposición o tomen una decisión alternativa que limite de manera efectiva la concentración de la pesca, es probable que algunos depredadores del kril sufran efectos adversos. En términos más generales, si la CCRVMA no actúa para diversificar la huella de la pesquería de kril, consideramos que este sistema socio-ecológico perderá capacidad de adaptación al cambio climático. Si no se adopta otra distribución espaciotemporal de las capturas, es de importancia vital que se mantenga la actual estrategia de ordenación, tan deficiente como pueda ser, con el fin de prevenir una deriva que nos aleje de la conservación.

Señalando que el plan estratégico quinquenal más reciente del SC-CAMLR ha llegado a su final, este documento propone la celebración de un simposio del SC-CAMLR para desarrollar el siguiente plan estratégico.

Frequency of fish bycatch in vessel and observer data are examined and discussed in this paper, with results from a survey undertaken by the Secretariat on krill bycatch data collection practices by Members presented. Recommendations on standardizing bycatch collection instructions and investigating bycatch data reported by some vessels are detailed.

Gear loss as reported by longline vessels from the 2020 and 2021 fishing seasons, including differences in line loss by gear type, is reviewed following recommendations made at WG-FSA-18. Vessels reported 1 363 km of line lost in the Convention Area, of which 22% were complete lines. There was a difference in the relative reporting of lost hooks by gear type, with rates of loss ranging from 2.5 to 4.6% for each gear type for the past two seasons. There was a significant difference in the frequency of complete line loss between gear types, with a higher rate of complete line loss for trotline than for Spanish or autoline. New fields for reporting gear loss in an updated C2 form are discussed.

The UK undertook a bottom trawl survey of CCAMLR Subarea 48.3 on the FV Robin M Lee from 7^th to 17^th May 2021.  Seventy-seven random trawls were completed covering depths of 105 to 354 m, including 20 at Shag Rocks, 27 in the NW, 14 in the SW, 6 in the SE and 10 in the NE. The biomass of mackerel icefish, Chamsocephalus gunnari, was estimated at 18,013 tonnes with a lower 1-sided 95% interval estimate of 10,627 tonnes. This is one of the lowest biomass estimates in the survey series. The highest catches were in the SW area, with low catches in the NW area, that are the main commercial fishing grounds and usually have the largest survey catches.

Catches of juvenile toothfish (Dissostichus eleginoides) were good, with almost 500 kgs caught in total.  Catches were dominated by fish of 40-50 cm TL, but with some smaller fish also caught.  Estimated biomass for the other species, such as the icefish Pseudochaenichthys georgianus and Chaenocephalus aceratus, and Gobionotothen gibberifrons were similar to previous surveys.  Whilst the total catch of Notothenia rossii was less than 2019, the species was caught in a high proportion of trawls.

During two nights of calm weather to the south of the island, the vessel had significant bird collision events, with more than 200 birds found on the vessel on the night of the 15/16 May.  The majority of the birds were diving petrels and were released alive and uninjured, but four diving petrels were killed. 

This paper notes updates to current commercial data forms due to the Secretariat’s taxon data project. Also discussed are a Longline Commercial Data Manual for the current C2 form, a proposed new C2 form for introduction in 2023, and a pathway for developing an updated C1 form and an accompanying commercial data manual.

This paper provides details of SISO observer deployments during the 2020 and 2021 seasons (based on data received by the Secretariat up to 20 August 2021). Developments in the Scheme of International Scientific Observation Programme regarding form updates and historic sampling information are discussed.

The Secretariat was requested to generate risk profiles of overrunning catch allocations across a range of vessel capacity (or catch) and fleet sizes to help understand whether reporting requirements for the krill fishery require revision in the future. The fishery capacity and the capacity utilisation were calculated to monitor trends in krill fisheries and daily catches. These data were used to generate the risk profiles of overrunning catch allocations across a range of vessel capacity and fleet size that is presented in this paper.

Results from the 2020 Conversion Factor Survey of Members’ vessels participating in CCAMLR toothfish fisheries, undertaken by the CCAMLR Secretariat, are presented in this paper. All Members reported that their vessels utilized the headed, gutted and tailed processing method, however no other product type was uniformly produced by Members or vessels. The provision of Conversion Factors by Members, and/or the calculation of Conversion Factors by vessel crews and observers, was highly variable. The Secretariat recommends a focus workshop topic on Conversion Factors be convened, in particular on the headed gutted and tailed processing method, as this may elucidate the causes of Conversion Factor variability.

This document summarises the current state of the database of linked tags held at the CCAMLR Secretariat.