The research of Dissostichus in Subarea 88.3 carried out by Chile in 1998, New Zealand in 2005, Russia in 2011 and 2012 and the Republic of Korea in 2017 and 2018. It was noted that no tagged fishes were recaptured during the previous research activities. Studies are planned to be conducted from January to March, as ice conditions permit. It is planned that the number of longline sets will be 60 in four Reserch Blocks. It is planned to complete the study for Dissostichus spp. in Subarea 88.3 within 3 years.

The four years of survey and observations of Dissostichus spp. in Statistical Subarea 48.2 on board the Ukrainian vessel SIMEIZ. Survey was conducted in accordance with the recommendations of the Scientific Committee and Commission. Obtained data will be used for the future biomass estimation of the target species and making decision for the possible future fishing on that fishing ground.

Ukraine proposes to carry out a scientific survey of Dissostichus spp. by bottom longline in the eastern part of Subarea 48.1.

In 2017 SCAF directed the Secretariat to undertake a review of the implications of recent changes to the UN Common System of Salaries, Allowances and Benefits published by the ICSC. The Secretariat undertook this review, extending it to a general review of the application of the ICSC scheme by CCAMLR and by other relevant international comparator organisations. CCAMLR is mostly in line with ICSC and comparator practice, but some changes to CCAMLR’s treatment of travel and appointment, health insurance and education allowances should be updated. These updates, if implemented as proposed in this paper, represent a cost saving for CCAMLR.

This interim report is submitted by INTERPOL as part of the Funding Agreement between CCAMLR and INTERPOL. This interim report covers the workshop/investigative meeting held by INTERPOL in July 2018. The funds granted by CCAMLR to INTERPOL total €50 000 for the 2018 calendar year. The source of the CCAMLR funding is an EU Grant.

To progress development of a semi-quantitative and spatially explicit risk assessment for skates in the Ross Sea region, we summarise skate catch and mark-recapture data through the 2016/17 fishing season, noting that on average 89% of skates by weight are released alive (45 of 51 t annually).

Catch data show that most of the skate catch consists of Amblyraja georgiana and that this species is the only one with enough mark-recapture data to examine movement patterns and estimate local biomass. Much of the A. georgiana catch occurs in SSRUs 88.1H and 88.1I in an area remaining open to fishing with respect to the Ross Sea region Marine Protected Area.

For consistency in comparisons, we use S-series t-bar tags released on skates and recaptured as part of the “Year of the Skate” experiment in the 2009 and 2010 fishing seasons to estimate local Chapman biomass using CCAMLR procedures for the 2010–2016 seasons (excluding 2012).

We estimated that the exploitation rate of the current catch of skates (the sum of the retained catch of skates and the catch of released skates with zero survival assumed), would be about 0.6% of the Chapman estimate of biomass estimated from the tag release and recapture data. This is less than half of the gamma for this species, which we estimated to be between 1.6 and 2.8%.

However, there is still uncertainty in the impact of exploitation on skates, and hence we recommend that a 2-year skate tagging programme in the Ross Sea region be used to provide additional biomass estimates in coming seasons. This tagging programme could use the regulatory approach adopted in 2009 and 2010 with simple additions to CMs 41-01 Annex C and CM 41-09. Furthermore, we provide an experimental design and background information to allow progress in developing validated ages for A. georgiana and for examining the effect of injuries on mortality rates of released skates.

Conservation Measure 32-18 on the conservation of sharks specifies that “directed fishing on shark species in the Convention Area for purposes other than scientific research, is prohibited.” Further, that “any by-catch of sharks shall, as far as possible, be released alive.”  Here, we examine trends in shark by-catch in the CAMLR Convention Area using information reported by vessels and scientific observers from the 1996–2017 fishing seasons. While there appear to be substantial gaps in the shark by-catch reported by both sources, the available data suggests that shark by-catch may have increased during the last 10-year period, with most of the by-catch reported in Division 58.5.2 and substantially lower catches in other statistical management areas. We highlight issues, some of which are in relation to catch in weight vs. numbers, retained, discarded, and released shark by-catch, and in the comparison of data from vessels vs. scientific observers. This paper provides information that could be useful during consideration of CCAMLR-XXXVII/30 by the Scientific Committee and Commission.

This paper summarises data collected by Scheme of International Scientific Observation observers, and vessels for incidental interactions between fishing vessels, seabirds and marine mammals during the course of fishing activities during the 2018 season. Incidental mortality numbers for longline fisheries in which seabird mortalities have been reported are presented with the data from observers and vessel supplied data. Based on data received up to 8 October 2018, the extrapolated total of 87 birds killed is the lowest on record.

This paper provides a summary of data collected by Scientific Observers operating in the Convention Area on board fishing vessels during the 2018 season (based on data received by the Secretariat up to 8 October 2018). Developments in the Scheme of International Scientific Observation Program are discussed with several metrics of observer performance presented, demonstrating an improved performance in species identification by observers, and fewer processing errors from the new longline logbook format.