This report summarises fishing catch and effort in the Ross Sea region (Subarea 88.1 and SSRUs 882AB) together with biological characteristics of the catch of Antarctic toothfish through the 2017 season. In 2017, sea ice constraints were minimal and catch rates were the second highest on record, resulting in the shortest season to since the fishery started.

Median and 90%ile scaled lengths show no trend on the Shelf, Slope or North. Age frequencies show no uniform trend and are probably driven by location of fishing. The strongest time trend in the data is the change in the sex ratio over time in all three locations.

The catch limits for macrourid and skates are dictated by CM 41-09. Because the areas open to fishing will change in 2018, with the implementation of the Ross Sea region Marine Protected Area (CM 91-05), we recommend catch limit for bycatch species for the North, Slope and SRZ areas based on methods used to set those limits in the past.

The Southern Ocean Observing System (SOOS) Executive Committee requests that the Scientific Committee consider a proposal to hold a joint two-day workshop between representatives of SOOS and SC-CAMLR to consider mechanisms for communication, collaboration and co-operation between SOOS and SC-CAMLR.  SOOS was established in 2011 and has been communicating with the Scientific Committee since that time (see this year’s report in SC-CAMLR-XXXVI/BG/14).  Last year, SOOS was recognised by the Scientific Committee as having an important role in a number of areas of its work, including ecosystem monitoring and observation (SC-CAMLR-XXXV, paragraph 3.24; SC-CAMLR-XXXV-Annex 6, paragraphs 2.83, 2.84 and 2.94), spatial management of impacts on the Antarctic ecosystem (SC-CAMLR-XXXV, paragraph 5.7), climate change (SC-CAMLR-XXXV, paragraphs 8.3-8.4, 8.23-8.24) and data management (SC-CAMLR-XXXV, paragraph 14.4).  The report from SOOS this year (BG/14) indicates many activities of interest to SC-CAMLR, particularly the regional and capability working groups and the development of three tools that facilitate collaborations and data discovery. Given the many useful interactions that could be of benefit to both SC-CAMLR and SOOS, the Executive Committee of SOOS wishes to establish a dialogue with SC-CAMLR on how these interactions could be most easily achieved.  The proposed workshop aims to identify relevant mechanisms for achieving this.

This paper presents an update on the SCAR Antarctic Climate Change and the Environment Report, providing an overview of recent science. The update is not meant to be read as a synthesis report, but as a perspective on recent scientific advances. 

SCAR is an interdisciplinary body of the International Council for Science (ICSU), and currently includes 43 member countries and nine ICSU unions. SCAR is charged with initiating, developing and coordinating high quality international scientific research in the Antarctic region (including the Southern Ocean).

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 CCAMLR engagement, recent scientific research of relevance to SC-CAMLR, and forthcoming SCAR activities of mutual interest.

To ensure that transshipment does not provide a mechanism for toothfish harvested by  illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing activities to enter commerce, as well as to address compliance issues discussed in SCIC, CCAMLR considered proposed revisions to existing measures to improve the monitoring and control of transshipments in 2014^[1], 2015^[2], and 2016^[3]. Despite robust consideration, no consensus was reached on these proposals. This paper draws Members’ attention to the new work on transshipment being carried out by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) following on a recommendation from the Committee on Fisheries (COFI). The report by the FAO on this issue is expected to provide CCAMLR members with a strong resource to help address current gaps in the monitoring of transshipments.  The United States looks forward to reviewing the report’s findings and, with due consideration of the relevant recommendations from the second performance review (CCAMLR-XXXVI/01, paragraphs 54 and 55), working with other Members during the intersessional period on a proposal for consideration at CCAMLR XXXVII. Improving the monitoring and control of transshipments is critical to the prevention of support or concealment of IUU fishing and to improving CCAMLR’s understanding of transshipment activities involving Antarctic marine living resources harvested inside the Convention Area.

[1] SCIC 2014: the United States presented draft revisions to CM 10-02 and 10-09 for consideration

[2] CCAMLR-XXXIV/27, Proposal to strengthen monitoring and control of transshipments, 04 September 2015, Delegation of the USA

[3] CCAMLR-XXXV/24, Proposal to strengthen monitoring and control of transshipments, 02 September 2016, Delegations of Australia and the USA

In accordance with the recommendations of the 2013 Panel Review of the CCAMLR Scheme of International Scientific Observation (SISO) (SC-CAMLR-XXXII/07 Rev. 1), the U.S. proposal[1] to amend the Text of SISO recommends the performance of a vessel safety check (see proposed Annex II in CCAMLR-XXXVI/25) prior to observer deployment, as well as the use of a form and protocol for debriefing observers to be approved by the Commission (proposed A(ebis) in CCAMLR-XXXVI/25).  This paper provides examples of vessel safety checklists and debriefing forms and protocols for the Commission’s reference in developing documents for use in SISO.

[1] CCAMLR-XXXVI/25 01 September 2017, A proposal to progress implementation of the CCAMLR SISO Review Panel recommendations

The conservation measure regarding (or stipulating) the interim distribution of trigger level in the fishery of Antarctic krill in Subareas 48.1 through 48.4 (CM 51-07) has continuously been renewed due the CCAMLR’s inability to establish an agreed, operational feedback management (FBM) approach. As the trigger level lacks any form of relationship with the actual stock condition this approach is strictly not in line with the CCAMLR ecosystem approach to management. FBM has been considered an alternative approach for decades, but still lacks a plan that can be made operational within realistic cost and effort levels.  Our proposal outlines that acoustic data would be collected, processed and reported continuously during the fishing season as measure of the available prey field. This information can be integrated with finer-scale knowledge of top predator feeding strategies and updated through specific scientific studies at regular (multiyear) intervals. The foundations of the proposal are that acoustic monitoring of the prey field of nearby predator colonies feeds into a decision-making framework that is far less dependent on land-based effort. We consider it important to base decisions on simple, understandable and robust relationships which in turn creates trust by the stakeholders and will enable an efficient implementation of FBM. Initiating the model development and the krill fishing-predator study now will bring the SG-ASAM work and our proposed FBM framework development into a similar timeline. While the proposed framework provides a clear way forward it will take several years to implement fully due to the required development of methodology and time series data.