CCAMLR

As a complementary activity related to demographic studies on the population of Arctocephalus gazella, and with the purpose of having a baseline zero for further studies using the guidelines prepared by the CCAMLR Secretariat, a survey to develop a complete collection of marine debris and heavy garbage from the beaches of Cape Shirreff was intended to carry out during the Antarctic season 1993-94.
Since the snowmelt was near complete at the site during this season, it was possible to collect and store the greatest part of marine debris got together during several years from different areas of the Southern Ocean on which several fishing, logistic and tourist activities are developed.
Approximately a 70% of the litter collected was able to be transported to Santiago for further studies. The remainder and heaviest part was left in the field: It was necessary to stop the garbage recollection due to an accident suffered by the ship "Capitan Alcazar".
Once analyzed the marjne debris we realized that it was composed by 1.754 objects collected from 36 beaches, with a total of 284.29 kg. As in previous studies on beach litter from the area, it was mainly composed by plastic and synthetic fibres (92%), metal (3.5%), glass (3.4%) and paper (1.1%). From these samples it was possible lo identify trademarks from Australia, Canada, Chile, Greece, Korea, and USA, which are added to other previous ones from Argentine, Brazil, China, England, Germany, Japan, Norway, Poland, and Russia.

A beach litter survey was carried out on Signy Island, South Orkney Islands during the 1993/94 austral summer. Similar surveys were carried out during the 1990/91, 1991/92 and 1992/93 summers. Debris was cleared from three study beaches, Foca Cove, Cummings Cove and Starfish Cove, in December 1993, January and February 1994 and items recovered were identified, counted, weighed and any clues regarding their origin noted. At Foca Cove, a total of 118 items were recovered with a combined weight of 18.35 kg. At Cummings Cove, a total of 170 items were recovered (6.21 kg) and at Starfish Cove, a total of 6 items were found (0.30 kg) .
It is clear that almost all debris found originates from accidental or deliberate dumping of rubbish from ships or discarded gear from fishing vessels, rather than from any scientific research stations in the South Orkney Islands.
The beach litter surveys carried out in 1990/91, 1991/92 and 1992/93 showed a drop in both the weight of debris and the total number of items recovered on all three study beaches. However, results from the 1993/94 survey show that this trend has been reversed. For example, at Foca Cove, the total weight of debris recovered rose to 18.35 kg in 1993/94 compared to 4.45 kg in 1992/93, and the number of items recovered increased to 118 items compared to 23. However, both the total weight and numbers of items recovered from this beach are still less than the amounts recorded in 1990/91.
The reasons for the increase in the incidence of beach debris at Signy Island are unknown. There has been no increase in the number of research or tourist vessels visiting Signy Island, no reported expansion in krill fishing around the South Orkney Islands and the sea area is still closed to fin-fishing.

In this paper the Australian experience with using transponders in fisheries management is described. The implications of this experience for CCAMLR are outlined and issues that have occurred in the development of vessel monitoring systems are described. These issues include selection of an appropriate transponder system, security of data, use of the information and equipment installation and maintenance. The major conclusion of the paper is that transponders have the potential to enhance the overall compliance with fisheries conservation measures and to improve the ability to gather fisheries management data.