CCAMLR

VHF radiotelemetry data has been used for over thirty years to monitor the behavior patterns of otariid seals. These data have been used in a wide variety of ways, from characterizing the reproductive and foraging ecology of these species to inferring ecosystem changes based on variation in attendance patterns. Yet the accuracy of VHF data has never been appropriately evaluated. Our study compares VHF data collected on 16 lactating Antarctic fur seals to assess onshore attendance, with concurrently-collected Time-and-Depth Recorder (TDR) data used as the ‘true’ measurement of time spent onshore. Within the retrieved datasets, 25% of the VHF data could not be interpreted with any reliability. Additionally, there were significant differences in the number and duration of attendance bouts between the two instrument types, with VHF data overestimating attendance bout duration by approximately 8.9h on average.  Importantly, the magnitude and direction of errors between VHF and TDR measurements were not systematic, suggesting that VHF data is an inappropriate method for collecting attendance data. Modelling the raw VHF data in a state-space framework elicited mean attendance durations that were indistinguishable from TDR-derived measurements, suggesting this approach may provide a means to re-examine historic VHF data. However, given the evolution of electronic tags in terms of sophistication, miniaturization, longevity and decreasing cost over the last thirty years, TDRs are a more appropriate means to collect attendance data on centrally-foraging marine mammals such as otariids.  

The United States has substantive interests within the boundaries of Planning Domain 1, and, in March 2015, scientists from the U.S. Antarctic Marine Living Resources Program hosted a domestic workshop to develop background information relevant to the establishment of one or more marine protected areas (MPAs) therein.  Key products from the workshop include a list of the types of specific objectives that U.S. stakeholders have for MPAs in Domain 1, a map of the areas that U.S. stakeholders consider to be priorities for spatial protection, and estimates of “conservation targets” that can be inferred from these priorities.  The list of specific objectives included “protect krill spawning and larval development,” “study climate impacts separate from fishing,” “preserve the integrity of existing studies,” and ten other candidates.  Participants at the workshop prioritized protection of the continental shelf and inshore waters along the western coast of the Antarctic Peninsula, from around Alexander Island and the Marguerite Bay northeast to the tip of the peninsula and Joinville Island and including various islands and archipelagos such as the South Shetland Islands.  Consistent with these protection priorities, conservation targets were generally highest for objects that occur inshore or over the continental shelf (e.g., the summer foraging habitats of Pygoscelid penguins) and lowest for objects that occur farther offshore (e.g., the marginal ice zone during winter, the winter foraging habitats of chinstrap penguins, and many seamounts).

We present a candidate, Stage-2 feedback management strategy for consideration by WG-EMM. The strategy uses existing CEMP data and three simple decision rules for adjusting catch prior to and during the fishing season.  The strategy does not necessarily require the use of no-fishing areas and implements a negative feedback whose magnitude varies according to an observed status of two independent indicators.

Australia, New Zealand, Norway, the United Kingdom and the United States jointly submitted a Working Paper (WP) and an Information Paper (IP) on Important Bird Areas to the Committee for Environmental Protection (CEP XVIII) at its June 1-5 meeting in Sofia, Bulgaria (WP 40, Important Bird Areas (IBAs) in Antarctica and IP 27 Important Bird Areas (IBAs) in Antarctica). These papers reported on the recently completed analysis on IBAs based on the consistent application of global criteria for bird population assessment worldwide. The CEP recognised the value of the IBA report to those interested in bird population biology and ecology, biodiversity, and conservation. The Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting Resolution D (2015) welcomed the report and recommended that Parties take into account the information in the report and undertake appropriate monitoring of bird population to inform future management actions. The United States, on behalf of the original sponsors of the papers, presents this short paper to inform WG-EMM and the SC-CAMLR of this valuable scientific resource.

Cameras allow for non-invasive measurement of many breeding and behavioural parameters that permit, for the first time, large scale, simultaneous monitoring of multiple colonies. Citizen science appears to be a scalable solution to data extraction from large data sets until automated image recognition becomes available. Given advanced stages of camera deployments and analyses described, using fisheries data (catch, effort, location) to test for effects on breeding success and reproductive chronology of penguins is now possible. In particular, if experimental fisheries closures or experimental feedback management actions were agreed, monitoring the efficacy of those actions would benefit from the replication of camera network monitoring sites.

According to the requirements of the Conservation Measure 21-03 (2014), this document provides information on the diagrams of fishing gears and marine mammal exclusion devices by the Russian-flagged vessel ‘Viktoriya’ that have submitted notifications of intent to participate in the 2015/16 Euphausia superba fishery (Notification has been submitted to CCAMLR Secretariat).

Within the timeframe established by the Conservation Measure 21-03 (2014), Russian Federation submitted notifications of intent to participate in the 2015/16 Euphausia superba fishery for one vessel «Viktoriya» in SSRU 48.1; 48.2; 48.3; 48.4.

We present a novel index of Antarctic krill biomass in CCAMLR subareas 48.1 to 48.4, based on data from scientific nets and covering the years between 2000 and 2011. The annual biomass variation was significant (CV=73%) but no systematic change in krill biomass was evident during the period. The index also suggests that realised exploitation rates were below 0.5% (i.e. catch was <0.5% of biomass) and that the potential exploitation rates implied by the operational catch limit (the trigger level) were below 2% during this period. These exploitation rates are much lower than the precautionary yield estimate for the krill fishery (which is 9.3%). Biomass indices from local scale acoustic surveys also suggest that exploitation rates are low and that there is no evidence of a systematic change in the krill stock. This evidence suggests that the trigger level is a highly precautionary operational catch limit which is currently appropriate for achieving the conservation criteria for the krill stock. It also suggests that the catch levels seen in the first decade of the 21st century are unlikely to have adversely impacted the krill stock. Nonetheless the Commission also needs to manage the risk of adverse impacts on dependent and related populations which might occur if fishing is concentrated in sensitive areas. Advances are needed to improve management of krill fisheries to manage these risks and to ensure that management is robust to the potential impacts of climate change. We suggest that frequent assessment of the krill stock, at scales relevant to the Commission’s conservation objectives, is a prerequisite for such advances. The most effective means to achieve this is likely to be through increased use of fishing vessels to collect data, while maintaining current time series.

Article II of the Convention requires the Commission to maintain harvested populations above levels that ensure stable recruitment. WG-EMM is currently developing candidate feedback management (FBM) approaches for the krill stock in subareas 48.1 to 48.4. These approaches include some which adjust fishing (catch, effort, location or timing) based on information about stock size. Thus CCAMLR needs reliable indicators of krill stock size at appropriate spatial scales. It is likely that future FBM approaches will require regular information on krill stock size at relatively fine spatial scales (subarea or less). However, periodic large-scale surveys (comparable to the CCAMLR 2000 synoptic survey) might also play a role in the future management of the krill fishery. Such surveys provide an indication of krill biomass at the larger scale which is robust to uncertainties about krill flux. Current constraints on research funding suggest that coordinated mobilization of multiple research vessels, as in 2000, is now unlikely. However, future large-scale surveys may be possible with the engagement of the fishing industry. We recommend that any such large scale surveys should be coordinated through CCAMLR’s scientific working groups. We identify the key components of a large-scale survey and the key technical and resource issues that must be addressed. We suggest that CCAMLR’s working groups should establish a process for addressing these issues if these groups consider that large-scale surveys are likely to be important in the future management of the krill fishery. The design of the CCAMLR 2000 survey might be a useful basis for designing future surveys, subject to a review which should be the first task in preparing for a future survey.  

The current state of the krill fishery in the Area 48 during 2008 - 2014 was analyzed in terms of catches, CPUE, catch per haul, fishing efforts (hours fished) and fishing vessel locations for traditional and continuous fishing methods. The CCAMLR fishery statistics was used. Summarized results of this analysis for Subareas 48.1, 48.2 and 48.3 with details on small-scale management units (SSMU) are presented in this paper.

The aim of this work was to assess the possibilities of automatically generating a dataset of dive behaviour of air-breathing predators, based on acoustic data from a monitoring survey and from commercial krill fishing operations. Our results documents that some form of automatic detection of diving predators in the data is feasible. A relatively low detection probability of our algorithms compared to the manual detections, suggest that there is significant room for improvement. Given the caveats of an imperfect methodology, the results document the possibilities to automatically extract, with a reasonable level of precision, data on the dive behaviour of air-breathing predators from the echo-sounder data.