CCAMLR

The main component of zooplankton in Antarctic pelagic waters, apart from copepods or salps, are specimens representing euphausiids. In fjordic areas like Admiralty Bay, data concerning krill is still scarce and fragmentary, despite the fact that those organisms are a significant element of the penguins and pinnipeds’ diet. Admiralty Bay, because of its specific hydrological conditions, is an interesting area for that kind of biological study. Moreover, King George Island, where Admiralty Bay is located, is a region of dynamic climate characterized by variable maritime conditions which make this region particularly susceptible to climate change. This area is also a breeding site of the three Pygoscelis penguin species.  The data presented here is based on samples collected during an expedition to the H. Arctowski station in the Antarctic summer 2008-2009. Biological materials were collected in the central part of Admiralty Bay, in Ezcurra Inlet and in the smaller coves of the bay using the WP2 net with a mesh size of 200 µm. Studies showed that krill was represented by species such as Euphausia superba, E. frigida, E. crystallorophias and Thysanoessa macrura. Th. macrura, compared for example to E. superba, occurred in higher numbers in Admiralty Bay and was recorded at all stations. As a result, population structure analyses were possible only for the Th. macrura individuals. The data also showed how important it is to conduct more regular analyzes in such Antarctic areas which could demonstrate more pronounced trends.

The objectives of this work are to demonstrate the unique character of Admiralty Bay, King George Island, South Shetlands (Subarea 48.1) in terms of its location, hydrology and existing numerous scientific, data archives, to compare biological, chemical and geological data with other Antarctic areas. Because of its location, semi‐closed nature, and history of intensive environmental and ecological research (hundreds of papers in various disciplines published in a variety of scientific journals). Admiralty Bay is an ideal and unique area to examine actual and further potential changes, and can be a model and possible indicator for the whole region. It would be a unique, comprehensive approach to these problems because of the availability of rich data collected two and three decades ago, as well as the multidisciplinary character of the planned monitoring program.  

At WG-EMM 2013 the Working Group agreed that it would be useful to have a consolidated summary of information related to the krill fishery in a similar format to the fishery reports that are completed for finfish fisheries in WG-FSA (www.ccamlr.org/node/75667).

The Secretariat agreed to coordinate the preparation of a draft krill fishery report for consideration at WG EMM-14 that would be similar in content to a finfish Fishery Report.

The following compilation of information on the krill fishery has been prepared by the Secretariat to provide the basis for such a Krill Fishery Report. This also includes a report on krill fishing in the current season and a list of notifications for next season.

Breeding colonies of the emperor penguin Aptenodytes forsteri are distributed throughout the Antarctic seasonal pack ice zone. One of the last colonies of emperors penguins discovered is situated on the south coast of Snow Hill Island, constituting the northernmost colony known in Antarctica. We conducted a census of adult individuals using aerial photographs taken from an aircraft flight over the colony during the 2013 breeding season. Likewise, we explored the colony by land, making an estimated counting of the number of chicks. From the previous census, the colony exhibited a population increase.   

Commercial fishing vessel has been recognized as important platform to collect useful data for the estimation of krill stock and its management. In December 2013, a trial acoustic survey was conducted by the Chinese krill fishing vessel ‘FURONGHAI' in waters around the South Shetland Islands. Krill was found in most part of the survey area. The mean Sv of krill swarm tend to be higher in inshore waters in the north of the islands; however, no such tendency was observed in the Bransfield strait. The majority of the krill swarms were found in the upper 100 m with a thickness less than 30 m. With this experience, more scientific data may be collected by the Chinese krill fishing vessels in the coming fishing seasons.

When considering establishment of MPAs, a set of criteria to properly evaluate proposals is necessary and essential to streamline and facilitate examinations.  On the basis of the discussions at the last Commission meeting, Japan is planning to propose a resolution “Standardized Procedure to Establish CCAMLR MPAs in accordance with the Conservation Measure 91-04”, hoping to contribute to constructive discussions thereon at the Commission meeting in 2014, in order for CCAMLR’s efficient and effective achievements in its leading work towards proper establishment of MPAs on the high seas.

We are submitting this paper to the WG-EMM meeting, which has competence on area management including MPA matters, in order to inform the CCAMLR members of our intention and expect to have initial inputs from the members to start dialogue.

Top predators are useful ecological indicators of changes in marine prey stocks and other ecosystem drivers. In the Ross Sea region, most south polar skuas (Catharacta maccormicki) nest near Adélie penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae) colonies, feeding on fish, penguin eggs and chicks, and carrion. We estimated skua abundance at Adélie penguin colonies on Ross Island in two consecutive years and tested for a relationship between these estimates and penguin colony sizes. We used distance sampling to estimate numbers of skuas and skua breeding pairs (based on nests), at five penguin nesting areas of varying size within the three main Ross Island colonies. We considered skua populations in ice-free areas within 500-m buffers around penguin sub-colonies at Cape Bird and within 1000 m at Cape Crozier and Cape Royds, where skuas were more widely dispersed. Estimated skua numbers were highest at Cape Crozier (4054–4892 individuals) and lowest at Cape Royds (141–152). Comparison with our skua breeding population estimates suggested that most skuas at these locations were breeding or attempting to breed. We found a strong log-log linear relationship between numbers of skuas and penguin breeding pairs. Many historical paired estimates of skua numbers and penguin colony sizes in the Ross Sea fell below this regression line. We probably overestimated skua numbers at some colonies by overestimating the areas that skuas occupied. Applying our regression model to published mean Adélie penguin colony sizes at 23 locations predicted 18 000 skuas (9 000 breeding pairs) total in the western Ross Sea, which is also likely an overestimate. We plan to revise our estimates and regression model by redefining the areas surveyed and recalculating abundances. We propose to validate the model by surveying skuas at a subset of Adélie penguin colonies. The revised, validated skua population estimate can then inform ecosystem models applied to fisheries management in the Ross Sea.

Software has been written to enable semi-automated census counting and count validation of nesting Adélie penguins (Pygoscelis adeliae), on aerial photographs of the Ross Sea sector of Antarctica. The software is written in MATLAB^®, is freely available and is deployed to users as a graphical user interface program. Previously, this task had been accomplished by manual marking of printed images, which is slow, and highly-dependent on the skill of the operator. The basis of the semi-automated counting procedure is linear discriminant analysis to separate the background (snow, water, rock, bare ground) from the guano-covered colony area, followed by morphological image processing operators to select the breeding penguins within the colony. Interactive features are provided in the software that allow an operator to add penguins omitted in the pattern recognition process, delete falsely-detected breeding penguins singly or in groups, selectively process a defined area, and record the running census counts. Validation of the counts against an experienced human counter is assisted by facilities to randomly sample the counted penguins, provide corrections to the census, and estimate the uncertainty of the counting process. The software has also been extended to allow for efficient counting of nesting Adélie penguins, although not automated pattern recognition, from historical black-and-white medium-format transparencies. We propose that our census software has much wider applicability than just counting penguins. While the present software has been written specifically for census counts of breeding Adélie penguins, there is no reason why the present approach could not be used for census counts of other species, such as seals on ice or farm animals on pasture. We outline the extent to which this software approach can be used with other species, and to aid the accuracy and reliability of count estimates from moderate-resolution satellite imagery.

The Antarctic Treaty area will become increasingly frequented by both researchers and tourists in the future. Three main areas are likely to be impacted by this increase in use and by alterations due to climate change: the Western Antarctic Peninsula, the Ross Sea, and coastal regions of East Antarctica. From previous reports we know that penguin species are highly susceptible to a number of infectious diseases. The number of investigations into infectious diseases of penguins has continued to increase over the last 50 years.  However, issues of data not being published and a lack of formal risk assessment regarding the introduction or transfer of infectious disease agents within the Antarctic Treaty System, means that our understanding is still patchy. A feather loss condition of unknown etiology, potentially due to an infectious agent, is affecting Adélie penguins (Pygoscelis adeliae) on Ross Island. This requires urgent further investigation. Also of concern, is that a number of mass mortality events have occurred. The majority of these events have occurred since the year 2000 in regions that will likely be affected by climate change and increased human activity.

As long-lived seabirds, Adélie penguins are valuable as indicators of the status of marine ecosystem health and are an indicator-species used in the CEMP program. One understudied aspect of penguin biology, however, is the effect of infectious diseases on these birds.  Long-term disease studies would therefore be useful as an adjunct to aid in identifying anthropogenic threats to ecosystem health within the Antarctic Treaty area.

For the above reasons, we recommend CCAMLR establish a health/disease monitoring program (including designated control sites and compilation of disease datasets) for Adélie penguins in the Western Antarctic Peninsula, the Ross Sea, and coastal regions of East Antarctica. We propose possible steps towards the goal of establishing baseline data and tracking infectious diseases in Adélie penguins, with the anticipated further increase in human activity and environmental changes in the Antarctic in mind.  This information could then be used by CCAMLR to help inform management decisions.

Weddell seals (Leptonychotes weddellii) and killer whales (Orcinus orca), specifically Type C killer whales (TCKW), have been identified as the top predators most likely to be directly affected by the removal of Antarctic toothfish (Dissostichus mawsoni; ‘toothfish’) in the Ross Sea region.  However, extreme paucity of information about the diet of TCKW, and uncertainty regarding the degree of reliance on toothfish as a critical prey item, have limited our ability to (a) assess the risk posed by the fishery to TCKW and other marine mammals and (b) mitigate potential risk by implementation of management strategies such as closures to protect key foraging habitats. During late January 2014, feeding by TCKW was recorded during 5 of 8 helicopter flights.  For 3 of these observations, the prey was identifiable as toothfish parts; no consumption of non-fish prey by TCKW was detected.  We also observed a large number of TCKW with small and presumably suckling calves.  Given that lactation represents a significant energy cost, we calculated energy expenditures of adult TCKW during maintenance, late-stage gestation, and lactation.  A comparison of energy expenditure with energy densities of fish prey indicates that available fish other than toothfish are insufficient to support the increased energetic costs of lactation.  This conclusion holds even assuming unlimited access to prey and without considering the energy cost of foraging (CPUE).  Marine mammals and birds contain more energy than fish prey, but re-orientation of TCKW towards non-fish prey would represent a major behavioural modification of unknown probability. A dependence of lactating TCKW on toothfish to support the additional cost of milk production implies a strong trophic dependency even if limited to a relatively brief period of the year.  We conclude that there is a probable risk to TCKW if there was a reduction in the availability of toothfish during the lactation period.  Further information on this dependency, including to what extent it has clear spatial or seasonal demarcation, is urgently required.