This update by SCAR on recent advances in our understanding of climate change across the Antarctica and the Southern Ocean, and the impacts on the terrestrial and marine biota and ecosystems, builds on the material included in the Antarctic Climate Change and the Environment (ACCE) report, published by SCAR in 2009 (Turner et al. 2009), with an update of the key points in 2013 (Turner et al. 2014).

At the request of the ATCM, SCAR agreed to provide regular updates on the original report (e.g. ATCM Resolution 4 (2010)). This activity is coordinated by the SCAR ACCE Expert Group (see http://www.scar.org/ssg/physical-sciences/acce), which provides annual updates to the ATCM.  The remit of the ACCE group is to keep abreast of recent advances in climate science, with a particular focus on Antarctic climate change and the environmental implications of such changes.

The original ACCE report and an overview of significant updates are available online as a wiki at http://acce.scar.org/wiki/Antarctic_Climate_Change_and_the_Environment. The online version is progressively updated by a number of editors with input from many active scientists.

From 15 to 17 May 2019 Antarctica New Zealand and COMNAP hosted a Search and Rescue Workshop in New Zealand. The CCAMLR secretariat attended the workshop as it has arrangements in place to provide to VMS data to Rescue Coordination Centres (RCCs) for incidents relating to Search and Rescue in the Southern Ocean. Following the workshop, the Secretariat continues to support Member engagement and familiarity with SAR user portal on the CAMLR website.

SCAR is an interdisciplinary body of the International Science Council (ISC), comprising 44 member countries, nine ISC unions and many individual scientists. SCAR is charged with initiating, developing and coordinating high quality international scientific research in, from and about the Antarctic and the Southern Ocean, and providing objective, independent scientific advice.

SCAR’s Mission is to advance Antarctic research, including observations from Antarctica, and to promote scientific knowledge, understanding and education on any aspect of the Antarctic region and its role in the Earth System. SCAR also provides independent and objective scientific advice and information to the Antarctic Treaty System and other bodies and facilitates the international exchange of Antarctic information within the scientific community.

Here, SCAR reports on recent and future activities of relevance to CCAMLR.

The International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO) advocates and promotes the practice of safe, environmentally responsible private-sector travel to the Antarctic. This paper provides an overview of Antarctic tourism trends and a summary of 2018-2019 IAATO activities it believes are most relevant to CCAMLR. IAATO is firmly committed to supporting the work of the Antarctic Treaty System by openly exchanging pertinent information with other Antarctic stakeholders.

The Secretariat receives notifications for transhipment activities within the Convention Area in accordance with Conservation Measure 10-09. The Secretariat maintains a list of all transhipment notifications on the password protected part of the website in accordance with CM 10-09 paragraph 5. This paper summarises the transhipment notifications received between 1 August 2018, and 31 July 2019 and identifies some enhancements that the Secretariat intends to make to the transhipment notification processing and publication in 2019/20.

This paper represents the annual report of a multi-member longline survey on Antarctic toothfish (Dissostichus mawsoni) at Subarea 48.6 in the 2018/19 fishing season by Japan, Spain, and South Africa. The data set, C2 and Observer data, was provided by the CCAMLR Secretariat on the 7th August, 2019. In this paper, the data set during current fishing season (2018/19) was used for reporting the quantity of data and samples collected. The research operations at 48.6 have not yet been completed in the 2018/19 fishing season.

The Secretariat reviewed the quality and consistency of port inspection and System of Inspection reports received from 01 August 2018 to 31 July 2019. Observations and suggestions for the enhancement for inspection reports are given.

The aim of the Workshop (see SC-CAMLR-XXXVII/24) was to explore how management strategies for the krill fishery can be integrated and harmonized. Such strategies include, but are not limited to, feedback management and the use of research zones including those within the proposed D1MPA and advice developed from risk assessments and ecosystem models.

CCAMLR has defined Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems (VME) detection thresholds based on the benthos bycatch monitoring. When these thresholds are reached during a single longline fishing operation, the data are reported to the Secretariat to inform the CCAMLR about the potential presence of VME to be protected. Management decisions are triggered out according to various levels. Important catches of sea pens (Pennatulacea, NTW, VME bioindicator) in the 58.4.4b sector have been reported during the CCAMLR SAM Working Group 2018. However, despite the important level of the catches, no VME detection threshold triggering out the establishment of an immediate fishing exclusion zone have been reached. Here, we provide the R code of a beta version of a library allowing to compute detection probabilities according to series of criteria such as the weight and abundance of organisms, longline length, number of hooks and section to be monitored. Furthermore, we present the preliminary results and some discussion elements of a study centered on the case of the sea pens, and based on the data collected in the 58.4.4b sector. The results may indicate that (1) detection thresholds may be defined considering the taxa of the VME bioindicators, (2) the detection probability is both linked to the weight/size ratio of the organisms and to the ecology of the taxa.

In recent years, CCAMLR Member States have undertaken substantial efforts to designate marine protected areas (MPAs) within the CCAMLR Convention Area in order to conserve marine living resources and marine biodiversity. During the Commission meeting of 2018, a proposal was made by Norway on an approach to facilitate progress on the further development of the Weddell Sea MPA (WSMPA) proposal (CCAMLR XXXVII para 6.31, 6.37). Most CCAMLR Members supported Norway’s suggestion (CCAMLR XXXVII para 6.39) as a useful way forward to achieve consensus and offered to work collaboratively with Norway, the EU and its Member States to progress on Norway’s proposed design to protect areas in the eastern part of Domain 4 for submission to the Commission in 3 to 4 years. Work on this project commenced with an international expert workshop organised by Norwegian scientists in Tromsø (13-14 May 2019; WG-EMM2019/14). Here we show progress on data acquisition and data, progress on the assessment of suitable analytical and modelling approaches and the project timeline (milestones and deliverables) to July 2020.