CCAMLR

Sanctioned longline fishing for Patagonian toothfish around the Prince Edward Islands (a globally important seabird breeding site) commenced in 1996 following high levels of Illegal, Unregulated and Unreported (IUU) fishing. Independent fishery observers accompanied all but two sanctioned trips between 1996 and 2000, allowing a thorough excellent understanding of the impact of this fishery on seabirds. Overall, white-chinned petrels Procellaria aequinoctalis were by far the most frequently killed species. However, during the first year, when lines were set during the day and night, a significant number of albatrosses (particularly grey-headed albatrosses Thalassarche chrysocome) were also killed. Birds were caught almost exclusively during their breeding seasons and most birds killed were breeding adult males from the Prince Edward Islands. Albatrosses and giant petrels were caught almost exclusively during day sets, whereas catch rates of white-chinned petrels did not differ between day and night sets. Albatrosses were caught closer to the islands than white-chinned petrels. Most white-chinned petrel carcasses were hooked in their wings and bodies, whereas albatrosses were caught most frequently in their bills. Albatross carcasses also contained large numbers of baits, indicating that fishers may be losing significant potential revenue by allowing these birds to access baited hooks. Rates of seabird bycatch in the sanctioned fishery decreased from 0.19 birds/1000 hooks to 0.034 birds/1000 hooks during the time of this study. This was probably mainly due to stricter implementation of mitigation measures and a progressive movement farther away from the islands over the years. We estimate that the combined impact of sanctioned and IUU longline fishing around the Prince Edward Islands over the past four years, could have resulted in close to 7000 seabird mortalities and could have had significant impacts on the breeding populations of several seabird species breeding on the Prince Edward Islands. This was mainly due to high levels of IUU fishing during 1996/97.

The requirements of an ecosystem approach to management of Southern Ocean resources are outlined. This highlights the need for information on harvested and dependent species their interaction and the manner in which their populations vary naturally. Large scale interactions are catered for the Krill Yield Model. Smaller scale interactions centre around three main categories, the availability of krill and variation in vital rates of the dependent species and the overlap between commercial fishing and predator foraging. The CCAMLR Ecosystem Monitoring Programme (CEMP) provides a good framework within which to investigate krill availability. Vital rates can be investigated directly and also with respect to CEMP. Overlap between fishing and predator foraging is being monitored. A mechanism for bringing these various components together as an ecosystem approach to management is discussed.

The Balleny Islands area contains special values which New Zealand believes are worthy of protection. New Zealand's past proposals have not yet achieved consensus support and the process for designating marine protection within the Antarctic Treaty System is not clearly established. New Zealand hopes that through a fully consultative process with CCAMLR partners, a new proposal which represents the best method of protecting the important values of the Balleny Islands would be developed for future presentation to CCAMLR. New Zealand also supports continued work on the processes for designating marine areas under both the CCAMLR and the ATCM's Environmental Protocol regimes.

Data from the krill questionnaire are presented for the Polish-flagged vessel Acamar fishing in Subarea 48.1 in March-June 2001; five questionnaires were completed. Submission of these data were delayed due to email communication problems with the vessel. This is the first set of questionnaires to be completed and returned to the Secretariat.