CCAMLR

The diet of non-breeding male Antarctic fur seals Arctocephalus gazella was investigated at the Danco Coast, Antarctic Peninsula, by the analysis of 31 and 149 scats collected from January to March 1998 and 2000 respectively. Overall fish and krill, followed by penguins and squids, were the most frequent prey and constituted the bulk of the diet. The importance of the remaining taxa represented in the samples (octopods, gastropods, bivalves, isopods, polychaetes and porifera) was negligible. Among fish, Channichthyids constituted the bulk of the diet with Chionodraco rastrospinosus and Chaenodraco wilsoni, followed by the Nototheniid Pleuragramma antarcticum, being the main prey. The Myctophid Electrona antarctica was the most frequent and numerous fish prey. The results are discussed and compared with those reported for the South Shetland Islands, the closest area from where similar information is available.

Over 250 documents are now prepared and submitted each year to CCAMLR Meetings. These documents contain major contributions to the work of CCAMLR and provide an important record of the history of scientific, political and administrative developments. While readily accessible within the Secretariat, this literature is often difficult to access by Members undertaking work for CCAMLR. This point has been discussed by Working Groups, and various requests have been made for the Secretariat to examine the feasibility of creating a database of CCAMLR working documents that could be indexed by keywords and accessed by Members (eg SC-CAMLR-XX, Annex 5, paragraph 10.10ii).
We have designed a simple database in MS Access to catalog documents submitted to CCAMLR meetings. The database contains hyperlinks to documents available electronically in portable document format (pdf). The information in this database is subject to the rules for access and use of CCAMLR data.
At the time of writing, a total of 3824 references had been entered into the database, of which 1032 (27%) where hyperlinked to the pdf version of the source documents. The database and associated files currently occupy 1.25 Gb.

A review of the data in the CEMP database revealed minor inconsistencies that have now been amended. These inconsistencies had no effect on the CEMP indices, but needed to be corrected. Other problems were detected, such as the use of old forms and Standard Methods, and the increasing amount of automated data being collected and submitted. Members should ensure that they use the most current Standard Methods and CEMP forms found on the website (www.ccamlr.org). A review of the standard methods would ensure that everybody is satisfied with the existing methods, and new guidelines regarding automated collection could be incorporated. Preliminary analysis of breeding population size and breeding chronology of the Adelie penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae) revealed a continual decline of the breeding population at Anvers Island. As the breeding success at this site has not declined also, local redistribution could be the cause. An examination of migration patterns in the Peninsula region would make show the validity of this theory. Water currents around the continent may have an important effect on the timing of critical dates in the breeding biology, however this needs to be examined more closely. Further analyses could be performed with the CEMP data, since the flying seabird and seal data have not yet been examined.

The paper presents a compilation of information and work pertaining to the krill fisheries in CCAMLR waters, including:
• report on catches for the last, complete season (2000/01: December 2000 to November 2001) and an update on catches in the current 2000/01 season;
• measures of overlap between the krill fishery and krill predators;
• further development of the plan for the krill fishery in Area 48;
• evaluation of available methods for forecasting closure dates; and
• further development of the questionnaire on fishing strategy.

The CCAMLR Ecosystem Monitoring Program uses indices derived from data on indicator species and the environment collected by standard methods within the three Integrated Study Regions of the Convention Area. Standardised index values are re-calculated each year as new data become available, and trends and anomalies in these data are presented.

Concurrent information on diet composition, foraging patterns and breeding output of the Antarctic Shag Phalacrocorax bransfieldensis was obtained at three colonies in the Danco Coast (Py Point, Midas Island and Primavera Island), Antarctic Peninsula, during the 1997/98 breeding season. Overall, demersal-benthic fish were the most frequent and important prey at all the colonies sampled, followed by octopods and gastropods. Between colonies there were marked differences in the size of the fish consumed, being the smaller specimens eaten by shags from Py Point. This was mainly influenced by the number of specimens of the smallest fish species, Harpagifer antarcticus, consumed at that colony. Differences in the composition of the diet might be related to different foraging areas used by the shags. Compared to Midas Island and Primavera Island, the shags from Py Point displayed longer foraging trips and spent significantly more time in foraging activities. Although at the beginning of the study the number of chicks per nest was similar in the three colonies, the breeding output at Py Point was markedly lower. The most likely explanation for the higher foraging effort and the lower breeding output of shags at Py Point might be the difference in fish prey consumption between these and shags from Midas Island and Primavera Island. Present results suggest that the decline in the inshore populations of Gobionotothen gibberifrons and Notothenia rossii observed in the last eighteen years around the South Shetland Islands, may be one of the reasons to explain the steady decrease in the number of breeding Antarctic shags observed in the last twelve years at colonies monitored in that archipelago.