CCAMLR

A Bioregionalisation Workshop Steering Committee was formally convened in August, 2006, following endorsement at CCAMLR XXIV and ATCM XXVIII. This update presents information on progress made by the Steering Committee following its intersessional work. Tasks required prior to the 2007 workshop are identified, as well as issues to be discussed. The paper is intended to provide background and a framework for discussion at the 2006 meeting of the CCAMLR Scientific Committee and the Commission. A list of Steering Committee members and draft workshop agenda are attached.

This document completes and updates the information provided by the French industry during the CCAMLR XXII, XXIII and XXIV.
At the end of the Nineties, the French companies involved in the toothfish fishery of the French EEZ gave up trawling for fishing with longlines in order to protect juveniles of toothfish and to minimize by-catches of other fish. Longlining was a completely new technique for the French companies, and it has taken its full dimension in French EEZ only since the end of 2002.
Since longline fishing started in the French EEZ, the incidental mortality of birds has been a matter of concern for the French industry.
This document specifies the directions which were followed by the French companies during the 2005/2006 fishing season - and which will be followed during the 2006/2007 fishing season – to reduce the risk of bird mortality; it more generally gives a statement of the initiatives that they took and which is part of a global treatment of the problem of the birds incidental mortality which takes place in the French EEZ.
Beyond the reduction of the mortality which can be estimated according to the protocols of sampling validated by CCMALR, the systematic counting of injured and dead birds carried out by the vessels themselves shows a new fall of mortality of almost 45% during the 2005/2006 fishing season. This fall concerns all the vessels that take part in the fishery. According to the crews’ perception, the incidental catches of birds are becoming more and more the fact of incidents occurring during the setting of the lines.
The 2005/2006 fishing season was thus characterized by the continuation of the very significant improvement in reducing the birds mortality that was already recorded during the 2003/2004 and 2004/2005 fishing seasons.
The French industry considers that this constant progress is equally due to:
• The progressive generalization of some mitigation measures: use of lines of white color, deployment of multiple streamer lines, use of integrated weight lines; The use of white and integrated weight lines was in particular totally generalized during the course of the 2005/2006 fishing season.
• The accumulation of the experience of vessels’ masters and crews, and the increase of their awareness concerning the necessity to minimize the incidental mortality of the birds; There are not easily measurable elements, but they undoubtedly have played an essential part in the reduction of birds mortality which was, and continues to be, observed.
During the 2005/2006 fishing season, the French vessels also continued the experimentation of other mitigation devices to reduce even more birds incidental mortality: line-shooter, reconstituted baits, tests of hooks of new form, experimentation of a new type of startling device (laser gun).
Some of these experiments will be carried on during the 2006/2007 fishing season (reconstituted baits, tests of hooks of new form). A line-shooter will also be installed on an additional vessel.

Worldwide, invasive alien species are contributing to a global biodiversity crisis. In the marine environment, invasive alien species are recognized as the fifth largest threat to global marine biodiversity. To date Antarctica has escaped the most significant impacts from invasive alien species, but the continent and Southern Ocean can no longer be considered immune. More than 200 non-native species have been discovered on the sub-Antarctic islands and several non-native species have been found south of 60° South, including, for example, male and female specimens of the North Atlantic Spider crab Hyas araneus.
It is no longer possible to regard Antarctica’s isolation and harsh climate as a natural barrier to introduced species. Increased visitation through national programmes, tourism and fishing activity, as well as a changing, more benign climate (particularly on the Antarctic Peninsula) mean that the risks of new species being introduced and becoming established are increasing.
To assess these risks and begin to consider actions to address them, New Zealand hosted a workshop on non-native species and Antarctica, in April 2006. The outcomes to the workshop were presented in a series of papers to the ninth meeting of the Committee for Environmental Protection (CEP).
CCAMLR’s Article II requires its Parties to take account of the effects of introduction of alien species. CEP IX suggested therefore that the workshop outcomes be presented also to CCAMLR’s Scientific Committee.
SC-CAMLR is invited to consider the findings of the “Non-native Species in the Antarctic” Workshop, and consider actions that may need to be taken to minimize the risk of introducing invasive species as a result of activities within CCAMLR’s purview.
In light of the requirements of Article II of the Convention, the Scientific Committee is invited to consider:
• What data collected under the auspices of CCAMLR may assist the CEP’s consideration of this matter?
• What aspects of commercial fishing activity may prove to be high risk in respect of transporting non-native species into Antarctic waters?

We inquired several social aspects of two Brazilian crews working in pelagic longline fisheries. Settings were made in southeast Brazilian waters between May and August 2004. Daily working schedules, habits, as well as leisure habits while onboard were observed and registered. A query was made in order to investigate the social and professional character of each crew member. Overall, our results show a low level of studies among these professionals. We suggest the implementation of a new concept of fisheries and biology observer. The Educational Observer, that could be used as informal teacher using as working tool long distance education, as well as informal education focusing environment issues, allowing improvement of educational level and awareness towards the surrounding environment among crews while on board.
We believe seabird mortality rate due to incidental capture by fishing vessels can be greatly reduced if level of awareness is increased through environmental education for it increases the chances of having mitigation measures applied instinctively onboard in areas where no legislation/obligation on the usage of these measures is in force.

The nature of the composition (structure) and distribution Antarctic marine living resources to determine by position of the South Ocean and originaly it's geographic isolation unity enormous water basin. This unity and circumpolar waters space lead to formation not only to Circumpolar Carrent sistem (ACC), but to circumpolar distribution of the whales, seals, seabirds, fishes, squids, species of macro- and mesoplancton, algaes and protosoa, in other words all the components of ecosistem and food chains. At the same time naturel boundary, in the form of the Antarctic Convergence (AC) in different Sectors of Antarctica is located in different latitudes, and the structure of ACC modify greatly under the influence submarine topography. As a result of these general geological and oceanographic features of the Antarctic sphere, how we all very good know, we can identified a diversity of Insular, Coastal and Open sea areas, with proper scheme of the currents, composition of bioresources species and good isolation ecosistem. In my book (Shust,2001), take into account the general geological and oceanographic features of the Antarctic area are responsible for the formation of variously sized biotope/ecosystems in which one can, based on the composition of fish fauna (especially of the most highly abundant species), I identify eight ichthyogeo-graphic zones (IZs). From mine point of view, this experience could be use today for Bioregionalisation of the South Ocean.

Lors de la CCAMLR XXIV, la France s’était engagée à réaliser une campagne d’évaluation de la biomasse du plateau de Kerguelen. Le présent document rend compte de l’évolution de cette campagne d’évaluation de la ressource halieutique en cours.
Dans la zone de Crozet (58.6) la campagne de marquage a débuté en septembre 2005. Le document soumis ci-dessous rend compte de l’évolution positive de la campagne de marquage.