This report briefly describes observation of floating marine debris made during marine mammal surveys from helicopters west of the Antarctic Peninsula.
Abstract:
El presente documento sintetiza las observaciones francesas oficiales de la pesca ilegal, no declarada y no reglamentada (INDNR) durante el año pasado e informa sobre la implementación del Sistema de inspección de la CCRVMA. Asimismo, incluye un análisis de actividades relacionadas con la pesca INDNR y propone mejoras para las medidas que se toman para combatirla.
El área geográfica contemplada en este estudio comprende la Subárea estadística 58.6 y las Divisiones 58.5.1 y 58.5.2, incluyendo las zonas económicas exclusivas (ZEE) alrededor de las islas Crozet, y Kerguelén y la ZEE de Australia alrededor de las islas Heard y McDonald respectivamente, y las Divisiones 58.4.3 y 58.4.4, esto es, aguas internacionales que comprenden los estratos de profundidad explotables de los bancos de Banzare, Elan, Lena y Ob.
Francia y Australia se encargan conjuntamente de la vigilancia de estas ZEE, de conformidad con un acuerdo bilateral de cooperación firmado por los dos países en 2003. El sistema de vigilancia ha sido implementado durante todo el año. Se ha demostrado su eficacia pues ha desaparecido toda señal de pesca INDNR en las ZEE. Los stocks de peces que hasta 2004 fueron tan duramente afectados en las ZEE de Kerguelén y Crozet, están ahora protegidos. Si bien existe una leve posibilidad de que se estén haciendo incursiones al área, es tan remota que no sería posible afirmar que se han realizado capturas INDNR en las ZEE alrededor de Crozet y Kerguelén.
Sin embargo, la pesca INDNR continúa manifestándose en las aguas internacionales dentro del área de la CCRVMA. El efecto combinado del alza de precio del diésel y el descenso del precio de venta de austromerluza fue una disminución del número de barcos de pesca INDNR que operaron en el Área de la Convención a fines de 2008 y comienzos de 2009. Estos barcos operaron de preferencia en pesquerías más cercanas a puertos de desembarque. Ya que los efectos de estas condiciones económicas específicas se están haciendo menos pronunciados, actualmente se está observando un resurgimiento de las actividades INDNR en el Área de la Convención. El aumento del precio de venta de austromerluza sirve de incentivo para el renovado crecimiento de este tipo de actividades.
Las actividades de pesca INDNR son observadas habitualmente en los límites exteriores de las plataformas continentales fuera de las ZEE. En esta temporada, la flota de pesca INDNR nuevamente se ha concentrado en los bancos BANZARE y Elan (División estadística 58.4.3) como también en las crestas submarinas más dispersas (Ob y Lena), y ocasionalmente en los límites de las ZEE de Kerguelén y Heard (cresta Lameyne, espolón Gallienni, monte submarino Williams). También se ha observado la reanudación de las actividades de pesca INDNR dirigidas a las poblaciones de austromerluza antártica a lo largo de las plataformas continentales, que son accesibles en el verano.
Todos los barcos de pesca INDNR observados utilizaron redes de enmalle. Varios de ellos declaran que algunos miembros de su tripulación, principalmente los oficiales, incluidos capitanes y patrones de pesca, son nacionales de países miembros de la CCRVMA.
En alta mar, la presencia de barcos patrulleros con el emblema de la CCRVMA no ha sido suficiente para desalentar los barcos de pesca INDNR, que continúan sus actividades. Algunos de estos barcos no vacilan en cambiar de nombre y de pabellón aún estando a vista de los patrulleros, a una distancia de sólo decenas de metros.
There is no abstract available for this document.
There is no abstract available for this document.
There is no abstract available for this document.
Abstract:
This Background Paper reports on the various activities conducted by SCAR that are of potential interest to CCAMLR as well as areas where the two organizations are already cooperating.
Annual updates to the Antarctic Climate Change and the Environment (ACCE) continue to be made to the Treaty, CCAMLR and others (see accompanying paper). SCAR also now has funds (from Norway, the UK and ASOC) to work on climate change communications, which will be a significant activity over the next year.
The Southern Ocean Observing System (SOOS) is moving into the implementation phase (see accompanying paper). SCAR looks to CCAMLR as a key partner in this initiative.
Three new potential Scientific Research Programmes (SRPs) of relevance to CCAMLR activities are under development: Antarctic Ecosystems: Adaptations, Thresholds and Resilience (AntETR), State of the Antarctic Ecosystem (AntEco) and Antarctic Climate in the 21st Century (AntClim21). As the SRP of most direct relevance to CCAMLR, AntEco has a CCAMLR representative (Keith Reid) on the planning committee. For further details see www.scar.org.
SCAR has several products of relevance to the work of CCAMLR (seehttp://www.scar.org/researchgroups/productsandservices/). In particular, the SCAR-MarBIN data portal continues to gather information on marine biodiversity in the Antarctic, and the CPR Survey continues to grow with more countries contributing, particularly Brazil.
SCAR hopes to continue to explore with CCAMLR areas where the two organisations can work together in mutually beneficial ways.
The intersessional meeting focused on the organisation and future of the IWC. The meeting identified a range of options for streamlining the working methods and practices of the Commission which were subsequently discussed in the intersessional period prior to the 60th Annual Meeting. As a result of these discussions, the Commission was able to develop consensus documents on both improved practices and a path towards resolution of substantive issues affecting the IWC. The intersessional meeting was therefore of limited direct relevance to the substance of the work done by CCAMLR but the proposed streamlining of the IWC administrative arrangements may be of interest to some CCAMLR members.
Abstract:
Bottom fisheries are now to ‘avoid significant adverse impacts on vulnerable marine ecosystems’ in order to maintain the ecological structure and function of, particularly, deep sea benthic habitats. Noting the paucity of data on the ecology of these habitats, this paper provides a practical approach to develop and evaluate fishing strategies aimed at achieving this objective i.e. what is the most cost‐effective way that fishers might be able to collectively enact this resolution? The UNGA requirement can be translated into a simple operational objective: Maintain the quality of habitats above the level that can naturally restore the original structure and function within 20 years. It does not require habitats to be categorised as “vulnerable marine ecosystems” or “invulnerable marine ecosystems”, a categorisation fraught with difficulty. Instead, it means that habitats for which this would not easily be met would be more vulnerable than those for which the objective might be met most often. This paper develops a simulation model for this task, representing key properties of the benthic system such as mosaics of a number of habitats along with their rates of decay, recovery and connectedness between areas. The model has been developed for use by CCAMLR to evaluate, using computer simulations, proposed within‐season and post‐season assessment and management approaches. Most importantly, the model enables uncertainties to be captured in a straight‐forward manner to assist CCAMLR in maintaining its precautionary approach in managing Antarctic fisheries. The functions developed in this paper provide placeholders in the simulation framework and can be replaced when better functions are developed.
Abstract:
In recent years there has been an increased focus on reducing ‘residual’ seabird captures that occur during hauling in CCAMLR longline fisheries. Haul captures were first recognised by CCAMLR as a problem as early as 1994/95 when steps were taken to reduce the attraction of birds to vessels during the hauling process. Since 2003 increased efforts have been made to improve the design and performance of bird exclusion devices (BED) placed around the hauling bay. Observer data collected since 2003 suggests that there are two key aspects of effective BED, firstly that they provide a deterrent to birds landing near to the line as it is being hauled and secondly that birds are deterred from swimming or “jumping” into the area around the hauling bay. Data collected since 2003 are used to classify BEDs into three types and recommendations are made on a Type III BED that was developed in Division 58.5.2 and incorporates the two key functional characteristics required to reduce seabird captures during the haul.
Abstract:
The current CCAMLR assessment method for the mackerel icefish (Champsocephalus gunnari) in sub‐area 48.3 employs the CMIX and GYM packages, which derives population numbers‐at‐age and projects these numbers forward under the given harvest control rule to set a two‐year TAC. One issue is the accurate identification of age cohorts from the survey data. In this paper we describe a length‐based approach that removes the problem of cohort determination. A stratified bootstrap technique (consistent with the current CCAMLR approach) is used to estimate the length distribution of the population from the survey data which, in conjunction with the bootstrapped survey biomass data, yields an estimate of the population numbers‐at‐length.
A comparison of this method and the existing age‐based CMIX/GYM methodology showed very good agreement in calculated yields for 2006, 2007 and 2009, and some differences for 2008 which were explained by an unusual length distribution from which it was difficult to reliably estimate age composition in CMIX. Using the 2009 survey data and the new methodology, we calculated a TAC according to the CCAMLR decision rules of 1577t and 933t for the 2009/10 and 2010/11 fishing seasons respectively. The respective estimates using the existing CMIX/GYM methodology were 1590t and 968t respectively