CCAMLR

The recent history of global initiatives to reduce seabird by-catch in longline fisheries are reviewed, highlighting in turn the activities of environmental and industry non-governmental organizations (NGOs), national governments and inter-governmental bodies. At least 40 species of seabirds, especially albatrosses and petrels, are affected, with unsustainable mortality rates in a number leading to population decreases. An International Plan of Action for Reducing Incidental Catch of Seabirds in Longline Fisheries, adopted by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in June 1999, has much promise for effectively addressing the problem, if nations are willing to develop and implement it. Environmental NGOs and scientists should collaborate with the fishing industry to assist governments (and inter-governmental bodies where appropriate) to implement national plans of action in a way that would solve the problem and thereby keep the World’s seabirds off the hook.

During 1998/99 austral summer the Adélie penguin monitoring program was carried out for the fifth year. The study site was located in the Adélie penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae) colony of Edmonson Point (74°20'56.7" S, 165°08'10.03" E). The aim of this research was to obtain data to contribute to the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) Ecosystem Monitoring Program and data on the feeding ecology of the Adélie penguin. The rationale for the program is the possibility that the harvest of krill may impact on the reproductive success of its major predators, in this instance the Adélie penguin. It is believed that any such impact will be difficult to detect initially because this species is long lived and changes which may affect the long term survival will be subtle. Large sample sizes and long monitoring research will be required to detect change. The penguin rookery was studied in terms of colony layout, breeding chronology, foraging trip duration, feeding localities and diet composition of breeding male and female. Penguins were monitored using satellite transmitters, time-depth recorders, and electronic tagging .. An Automated Penguin Monitoring System (APMS) was installed which records the weight, identity and direction of penguins as they move between the sea and their breeding colony and support these data with direct observations. The penguins at Edmonson Point are guided by small fences to cross the weigh bridge. This enables researchers to monitor all birds which enter the study area of 500-600 nests. The results of this study up today allowed documentation on colony trends and on breeding biology and showed gender differences in foraging strategies among different stages of reproductive period and among different study seasons. Moreover the automated system enabled collection of baseline data on Edmonson Point penguins population reducing researchers disturbance to the colony.

The antioxidant defences in aerobic organisms represent the detoxification pathway against toxicity of reactive oxygen species (ROS). These highly reactive molecules are normally produced during the 4-electrons reduction of molecular oxygen to water coupled with oxidative phosphorylation and during the activity of several enzymatic systems which produce ROS as intermediates. If the antioxidant capacity is exceeded (i.e. as a consequence of enhanced intracellular formation of ROS) a pathological condition, generally termed as oxidative stress, may arise.
In this preliminary work, susceptibility to oxidative stress has been compared in Adélie penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae) and South polar skua (Catharacta maccormicki), breeding at Edmonson Point (Wood Bay, Ross Sea). At the time of sampling, Adélie penguins were rearing chicks and also for skuas, the redation of eggs and chicks make this period of their biological cycle very stressful.
In the framework of the Italian Research Program in Antarctica (PNRA) , blood samples were collected during the Austral summer 1998-99 and the Total Oxyradical Scavenging Capacity (TOSC) analyzed. The TOSC assay, measuring the capability of biological samples to neutralise different oxyradicals, has been recently standardized to provide a quantifiable value of biological resistance to toxicity of ROS.
Penguins exhibited higher scavenging capacity towards peroxyl radicals than South polar skua. The greater resistance to toxicity of oxyradicals might suggest that penguins are naturally exposed to an higher basal prooxidant pressure in comparison to skuas.