CCAMLR

Data on fish bycatch in the krill fishery has been collected as part of the CCAMLR SISO from a total of 9303 hauls collected on 60 cruise involving 18 different vessels over the period 2010-2014. This paper examines the frequency of occurrence, proportion by mass and length-frequency distribution of the fish taxa reported. The frequency of occurrence of fish for each vessel ranged from 0.1 to 0.98 and there were 14 taxa for which the frequency of occurrence was >1% in any subarea (of which 7 were Channichthids). The modal size class of the fish taxa for which >100 length measurements were available all had a modal size of <10cm. Extrapolation of the mass of fish in the bycatch data would indicate that a 200 000 t krill catch might be expected to contain of the order of 40t of C. gunnari and 38t of L. larseni, albeit with large confidence intervals around these estiamtes.

The CCAMLR Ecosystem Monitoring Program (CEMP) was established to detect changes in krill-based ecosystems to provide a basis for regulating harvesting of Antarctic living marine resources in accordance with the ‘ecosystem approach’.

In 2013/14 data has been submitted by 8 Members for 15 sites and 12 CEMP parameters.  

This report provides a summary of CEMP data submissions for the 2013/14 season.   

Vessels operating in the krill fishery in CCAMLR’s Convention Area have been required to directly estimate the green weight of krill caught since 2012/13. The estimation methods were revised at WG-EMM-13 and published in Conservation Measure 21-03 Annex B. Estimates of green weight and parameter values are reported in each vessel’s haul-by-haul catch and effort data. This paper reviews the data reported in 2013/14 (to May 2014).

Vessels fishing in 2013/14 used six methods for the direct estimation of the green weight of krill caught: codend volume, holding tank volume, flow meter, flow scale, plate tray and meal conversion. The submission of green weight estimates and parameter values continues to improve; however some vessels may still experience difficulty in measuring and/or reporting parameters at the required frequency. In addition, some data submissions included additional formulae to the CCAMLR data forms and these suggest that certain parameter values may have been back-calculated. This may indicate that some estimation methods (e.g. flow meter) require further development, or some parameters cannot be measured directly or safely. WG-EMM may wish to consider this matter further.

During 2013 the CCAMLR Scheme of International Scientific Observation (SISO) was subject to an external review by an expert review panel drawn from members (see SC-CAMLR-XXXII/07 Rev. 1). The panel recommended a number of changes to the SISO observer logbooks to remove obsolete data collection practices, and streamline the forms for ease of use by CCAMLR observers. This paper summarises the proposed changes made in the draft 2015 observer logbook for the krill trawl fishery and its accompanying instructions.

Antarctic seabirds are important indicators of impacts and change in Southern Ocean ecosystems, but their isolated and remote breeding populations are challenging and expensive to assess and monitor using traditional methods. Remotely-operating time-lapse cameras offer a tool for cost-effective, large-scale assessment and monitoring. We demonstrate that robustly designed cameras can (1) operate over long periods in the harsh Antarctic environment, (2) identify the timing of important breeding events (phenology), (3) provide accurate estimates of breeding success, (4) standardize population counts made at sub-optimal times, and (5) through a network of cameras, quantify spatio-temporal variation in these parameters. By establishing a network of cameras at seabird breeding colonies across east Antarctica, we are now able to cost-effectively monitor aspects of seabird breeding parameters at the large spatial scales over which fisheries and climate change are expected to impact the Southern Ocean.

The aim of the work is to study the leukocyte composition in blood of deep-water fish species by the example of Antarctic toothfish Dissostichus mawsoni. Fish were caught in January–February 2012 in the Ross Sea (Statistical Subarea 88.1) at depths from 690 to 1183 m from onboard “Yantar-31” longline fishing vessel. Blood samples were collected from the caudal artery of immature fish (10 specimens) with average mass 21.4 kg and length 114 cm. The composition of leukocytes in Antarctic toothfish is similar to the leukocyte composition in freshwater fish species except basophils (Ivanova, 1983; Golovina and Trombitskii, 1989). Lymphocytes constitute the main portion (84.8 ± 2.13%) in the leukocyte formula; eosinophils (6.0 ± 1.29%), neutrophils (4.8 ± 0.92%), blast cells (2.7 ± 0.42%) and monocytes (1.7 ± 0.33%) are less numerous. Among studied Antarctic species, Antarctic blackfin icefish Chaenocephalus aceratus (Barber et al., 1981) have a similar composition of leukocytes.

Present work contains considerations and proposals of possible joint research of Russian and German scientists in the eastern part of the Weddell Sea. Data on potentially valuable for commercial fishing species in the eastern part of the Weddell Sea collected by German investigators in 1979-1989 are also included, as well as results of Russian longline survey of Antarctic toothfish in 2013-2014 in the eastern part of the Weddell Sea.

The review of Russian expeditions carried out during 1970-2000 in the south-eastern part of the Atlantic Antarctic Area was discussed. Distribution of krill with reference to the structure and dynamics of the water masses, species dominated in Phytoplankton and Ichthyofauna were analyzed.

It was shown that the area of the continental slope and shelf of Antarctica (between 20ºW and 30ºE) can be perspective area for commercial fishery operations. To our opinion the above said area should be become the areas of exploratory fishery in the Area 48.

This progress report represents a follow up of WG-EMM-13/22 (WG-EMM, Jul 2013, Bremerhaven) and SC-CAMLR-XXXII/BG/07 (SC-CAMLR-XXXII, Oct 2013, Hobart). The authors intend to update the Working Group on Ecosystem Monitoring and Management on the actual state of our project, particularly on the proceeds of the data acquisition process and the preliminary scientific analysis. In addition, we present the report of the International Expert Workshop on the Weddell Sea MPA project (7-9 April 2014, Bremerhaven) as supplementary paper. The main objectives of this document are (i) to provide an updated summary of the data identification and acquisition process, (ii) to set out the preliminary scientific analysis which was worked out so far, (iii) to present on the report of the International Expert Workshop on the Weddell Sea MPA project (7-9 April 2014, Bremerhaven), and (iv) to give an update on the further process.

The embryonic development of Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) is sensitive to elevated seawater CO₂ levels and successful hatching is impaired at CO₂ levels greater than 1000 μatm. Exposure to elevated CO₂ during the first 3 days of embryonic development significantly retards subsequent development even if the embryos are transferred to seawater with current levels of CO₂. Krill embryos appear more vulnerable to ocean acidification than other pelagic crustaceans such as copepods. pCO₂ in the Southern Ocean are predicted by models to rise to above 1500 μatm in some parts of krill’s depth range by the year 2100 unless emissions are mitigated.  Risk maps, combining modelled hatch rates and the 3-dimensional circumpolar projection of future pCO₂, predict that by 2100 the Weddell Sea and the waters to the east (the Haakon VII Sea) are the highest risk areas for krill embryos.  The entire Southern Ocean south of the Polar Front is predicted to be unsuitable for hatching by the year 2300, which would lead to collapse of the krill population. This is the first report that explores the circumpolar impacts of ocean acidification on krill.