CCAMLR

Australia is adapting the risk assessment framework used in Area 48 to assess the risks involved in any redevelopment of a commercial krill (Euphausia superba) fishery in CCAMLR Divisions 58.4.1 and 58.4.2, off the coast of East Antarctica, and to evaluate whether the current management procedure has a high likelihood of achieving CCAMLR’s objectives in this region. This paper outlines a relatively simple derivation of the risk assessment framework to assess whether the current conservation measures that are relevant to Divisions 58.4.1 and 58.4.2 sufficiently mitigate the risk of a krill fishery disproportionately concentrating catches in areas that are also important to krill predators. In particular, this application of the risk assessment framework explores how estimated predation needs of baleen whales, crabeater seals and Adélie penguins, in parallel with the currently agreed krill biomass estimates across Divisions 58.4.1 and 58.4.2, suggests a distribution of catch across the four subdivisions. This risk assessment found the regional risk of the current conservation measures in Divisions 58.4.1 and 58.4.2 to be higher than the baseline regional risk. That would suggest that, in the event that krill fishing within a CCAMLR season begins to approach the catch/trigger limits, krill predators across Division 58.4.1 could be potentially exposed to disproportionate effects of fishing. This result is driven primarily by the krill biomass/density estimates across Divisions 58.4.1 and 58.4.2, which highlights the need to support future surveys to update these parameters. We also discuss a path towards a future update of this risk assessment using modified methods and new data. 

In 2009, CCAMLR agreed that the establishment of a representative system of marine protected areas (RSMPA) by 2012 was a priority. This assessment shows that the Scientific Committee and Commission can be kept informed of progress towards this goal using a relatively short list of simple criteria that are based on robust ecological and experimental design principles, and the Commission’s objectives. This study indicates that the currently designated marine protected areas provide important contributions towards a RSMPA, however we are not there yet. Establishment of the proposed MPAs in Domain 1, Weddell Sea and East Antarctica would make significant contribution towards a RSMPA under a scientific definition of representation, and enable CCAMLR to focus efforts on the remaining values yet to be included in proposals.

The results of the research aimed at further substantiation and development of the Marine Protected Area in the area of the Ukrainian Antarctic Station Academician Vernadsky are presented. In order to study the structure and biodiversity of benthic communities in the water area of the Argentine Islands, the underwater research and acoustic survey were conducted. During the period of 2014-2016, 35 research SCUBA-dives were done to explore the two proposed MPAs. Later on, during the period of 2016-2018, an underwater and acoustic surveys, chemical analyses of bottom sediments and soils of nearshore areas were conducted to establish new MPAs in the Argentine Islands Archipelago and adjacent water areas.

We inform on the results of data validation experiment provided for pictures from time lapse cameras of the CEMP camera monitoring project of CCAMLR at Galindez Island gentoo colonies. During the 2017-2018 season biologists winterers at Vernadsky station, situated at Galindez Island, provided continuous observations every day of gentoo nests in the three sites where automatic time lapse cameras installed. The results of visual observations have been compared with data from camera pictures, which registered the same nests that were observed. The comparison of the lay, hatch, and crèche dates demonstrates the reasonable correspondence within 1-2 days between visual observations and data, obtained by pictures processed.

We provide an outline of data that can be generated from nest camera images and describe how they relate to the parameters outlined in the CEMP Standard Methods. We discuss where the two are similar, provide comment on nest camera data utility for CEMP, and outline gaps in our assessment of their use for this purpose. We provide suggestions for how CEMP data submission forms could be varied to accommodate nest camera image data for consideration by the EMM Working Group.

We provide a brief update on the software developed for assessing nest camera images through the CEMP Special Fund project ‘Developing an image processing software tool for analysis of camera network monitoring data’. This CEMP Special Fund project was initiated in 2015/16 to refine existing software and develop post-processing code for data download according to specifications developed in consultation with the CCAMLR nest camera community. Here we describe development of the software, the approaches for nest camera image processing available within the software, data downloading considerations, and encourage feedback from nest camera users to assist in finalising the software through this project for completion towards the end of 2018.

• The diet composition of key species of penguin is currently monitored as part of the CCAMLR Ecosystem Monitoring Program (CEMP). Stomach lavage techniques are used in order to identify prey composition and mass. Analysing prey DNA in faeces may be a useful, less invasive, approach to complement existing diet monitoring.
• We undertook a pilot study to directly compare these two methods using Adélie penguin Pygoscelis adeliae samples collected from Signy Island, South Orkneys during crèche (December/January) in 2014/15 and 2015/16.
• Each method produced a similar pattern of penguin diet, with a shift from almost exclusively krill in 2014/15 to a mixture of fish and krill in 2015/16. Stomach flushing allows some additional information to be collected (e.g. prey size and meal mass). However, faecal prey DNA allowed more comprehensive sampling and DNA markers identified higher taxonomic diversity of fish prey.
• Use of faecal DNA analysis provides an opportunity to establish CEMP as a global leader in long-term monitoring of seabird diets using this non-invasive methodology and could significantly increase the spatial range of data obtained for CEMP.
• Further comparison between methods with additional penguin species (chinstrap, macaroni) and adoption of a standardized genetics methodology is essential for faecal DNA diet analysis to be used as a CEMP monitoring tool.
• Some in-kind resources are available for continuing this research, however support from the CEMP special fund would allow for the directed research needed for establishment of faecal DNA analysis monitoring methods tailored to the requirements of CEMP.

The Pygoscelis penguin colonies census in the Vernadsky Antarctic station area has been provided during 2017-2018 breeding season. The Pygoscelis penguins in the region of research are mainly gentoo penguin, which has formed 14 autonomous colonies with about 13320 of breeding pairs total and about 780 immature penguins. The Adelie specie is much less common in the area and formed 8 nesting colonies with 5300 nesting pairs and 800 immature penguins. Inside of the Adelie penguin specie family, there is significantly higher percentage of birds which not involved in the reproduction process. This fact, to some extent, probably explains the depression of the world population of the Adelie specie, which has been observed throughout the area during recent years. The nesting of the Antarctic penguin in the region of research should be considered a sporadic settlement at a considerable distance from the main range. The gentoo penguin colony at the Green Island possibly could be the southernmost points of the nesting habitat of this specie.

During the 2017 Scheme of International Scientific Observation workshop (WS-SISO), the data collection requirements for krill observers were discussed, with recommendations tabled in the WS-SISO Convener’s Report (SC-CAMLR-XXXVI/08) for amendments to the krill e-logbook used by SISO observers. This paper summarizes the changes to the e-logbook for proposed introduction in the 2019 season.

Antarctic krill Euphausia superba is an ecological key species in the Southern Ocean and a major fisheries resource. The winter survival of age class 0 (AC0) krill is susceptible to changes in the sea-ice environment due to their association with sea ice and their need to feed during their first winter. However, our understanding of their overwintering diet and its variability is limited. We studied the spatio-temporal variability of the diet in 4 cohorts of AC0 krill in the Northern Weddell Sea during late winter 2013 using stomach contents, fatty acids (FAs) and bulk stable isotope analysis (BSIA). Stomach contents were dominated by diatoms in numbers and occasionally contained large volumes of copepods. Many of the prey species found in the stomachs were sea ice-associated. Our results show that the diet of overwintering AC0 krill varies significantly in space and time. Variability in stomach content composition was related to environmental factors, including chlorophyll a concentration, copepod abundance and sea-ice cover. In contrast, FA composition mainly varied between cohorts, indicating variation in the long-term diet. The condition of the AC0 krill was reflected in FA and BSIA analysis, suggesting that the availability of sea ice-derived food sources over a long period may impact the condition of developing AC0 krill significantly. The spatio-temporal availability of sea-ice resources is a potentially important factor for AC0 krill winter survival.