CCAMLR

El objetivo de este trabajo es presentar una síntesis de evidencias del impacto humano en Cabo Shirreff (62"27'S., 61l'47'W), isla Livingston, sobre la base de antecedentes históricos y observaciones de terreno. En un acercamiento cronológico arbitrario se ha establecido tres periodos: Antiguo, reciente y actual.
El primero dice relación con los naufragios de antiguas embarcaciones, cuyos restos están esparcidos en el litoral de los islotes San Telmo y del Cabo, entre los cuales es posible encontrar más despojos del buque español "San Telmo", que naufragó cerca de las costa de Cabo Shirreff, así como de otros pertenecientes a barcos loberos, y a rests de campamentos de cazadores de lobos.
El segundo, se refiere principalmente a ruinas de una instalación rusa, cuyo tipo y data se está estudiando, y que fue desmantelada, dejando la base de una antena, restos de latas de conservas, cables eléctricos, panes de herramientas, restos de botas, clavos, células de baterías, etc. Asociado a dicha instalación, está el hallazgo que hicimos de dos documentos escritos en ruso, con el detalle del contenido de una caja de madera cubierta por una pequeña pirámide de piedras. Además, mencionamos nuestros hallazgos y recolección de variados restos plásticos diseminados en las playas, valles y cerros del Cabo (trozos de redes de pesca, boyas, envases de uso doméstico, zunchos, etc.), los que habrían caído al mar en forma accidental o aparentemente lanzados directamente a las aguas durante los años del máximo auge de las pesquerías en el Océano Austral.
El tercero se refiere a las actividades humanas efectuadas a partir de 1981 hasta el presente. Aquí incluimos las evidencias del trabajo científico en el mar (hallazgo de tarjetas plásticas o indicadores de corrientes), como aquél desarrollado en el terreno mismo (manipulación de cachorros, marcaje de crías, recuperación de marcas plásticas perdidas, etc.) ocurridos entre 1981 y 1993. Se menciona la instalación de un módulo desmontable de fibras de vidrio ubicado en la costa noreste del Cabo; la continua varazón de restos plásticos, especialmente envases de uso doméstico y el anecdótico hallazgo de monedas mexicanas en los islotes San Telmo, fechadas en 1986 y 1987.
Se da énfasis a la protección del Sitio de Especial Interés Científico (SEIC N° 32), Cabo Shirreff e islotes San Telmo, especialmente durante los trabajos de terreno.
Como medida global y comprehensiva para proteger a todo el Océano Austral y a sus ecosistemas relacionados, se sugiere que el Sistema del Tratado Antártico por intermedio de sus órganos pertinentes. coordine y apoye acciones conducentes a reforzar MARPOL 73/78, relacionándose activamente con otras organizaciones internacionales y nacionales, para establecer consolidar la conservación del ecosistema del Océano austral y de sus ecosistemas relacionados. Además, se propone establecer una red de seguimiento a fin de registrar, donde sea posible, la presencia de problemas causados por los desechos plásticos, de acuerdo con los formularios estandarizados propuestos por CCAMLR, incluyendo el registro de aves y de mamíferos marinos enmallados, así como otros problemas provocados a la biota marina por ese tipo de basuras, cuyas evidencias se mencionan aquí para el SEIC N° 32

The Antarctic digital topographic database is the outcome of a truly international collaborative project between 11 nations. Data capture was co-ordinated in the UK, under the auspices of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR), during a two-year period. Over 200 maps, at scales ranging from 1:200 000 to 1:5 000 000, were digitized for the project and reference was made to a similar number of satellite images (mostly Landsat photographic products). Editing and harmonization of the data derived from the different sources has produced a seamless map of Antarctica which has the most up-to-date coastline now available. The topographic database created, to be published on one CD-ROM, will form the foundation for future GIS needs in Antarctic research. Products already derived from the database include digital elevation models and customized maps; the latter can be reproduced by research groups to meet their own mapping needs.

In the first observation of oiled seabirds at Bird Island, South Georgia since the station was opened in 1975, six freshly-oiled penguins (one chinstrap, five gentoos) were recorded ashore in July and August 1993. Because gentoo penguins feed very close inshore in winter they must have been contaminated near Bird Island from pollution originating nearby. Krill fishing boats, operating within 20nm of the Willis Islands (5km west of Bird Island) from early July, are the most likely source of the oil. Large concentrations of penguins were seen in this area by a US research cruise in June 1993.

Fishing in the Southern Ocean commenced on finfish in 1969/70 and on krill in 1972/73. The former Soviet Union has been the most important fishing nation, taking 80-90 % of the entire catch. Up to 1992/93, more than 3 million tonnes of finfish had been harvested, mainly around South Georgia and the Kerguelen Islands. After 15 years of exploitation, most fish stocks have been heavily depleted. The krill catch from the Southern Ocean has been 4.9 million tonnes to date. More than 90 % of this catch originated from the Atlantic sector. 50 - 90 % is taken from the foraging range of land-based predators during the critical period of their breeding cycle when they raise their young. This creates the potential for direct competition between krill fisheries and krill-dependent predators. Potential impacts of krill and finfishing on the ecosystems of the Southern Ocean range from endangering recruitment due to the by-catch of juvenile fish in the krill fishery, to incidental mortality of birds during longline operations and the entanglement of seals in fragments of discarded or lost fishing gear. Most fish stocks had already been over-exploited before the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) came into force in 1982. Stringent conservation measures to halt the further decline of the stocks we re implemented only from 1989 onwards. There is evidence that some fish stocks have started to recover recently. Precautionary catch limits for krill of 1.5 million tonnes for the Atlantic sector (Statistical Area 48), and of 390,000 tonnes for Statistical Division 58.4.2 in the Indian sector, were set in 1991 and 1992 respectively. CCAMLR has implemented a number of conservation measures to safeguard other components of the marine ecosystems from fishing. CCAMLR adopted a system of inspection in 1989/90 and a scheme of international scientific observation in 1992. It is too early to judge the efficacy of these enforcement and data gathering programs. There is a growing recognition in CCAMLR of the need for preventative measures in circumstances of biological uncertainty. The development of multi-species management models appears to be remote at present. The way forward is likely to be a single-species model for the krill fishery which needs to take implicit account of the demands of natural predators particularly at small scales. If demersal fish stocks are able to recover to their MSY level, the fishery potential of the Southern Ocean is likel y to be much larger than current catches. The fishery potential of krill and mesopelagic lanternfish is likely to exceed that of demersal fish stocks by an order of magnitude. By contrast with the 1970's and 1980's, when most fisheries were subsidized, economic considerations and market demands will be the primary determinants of the development of fishing in Southern waters during the 1990's.