CCAMLR

Biogeographic information is of primary importance for monitoring biodiversity and detecting impacts of environmental changes, developing the bio/ecoregionalisation of the Southern Ocean, designing marine protected areas, conducting comparative biogeographic analyses or discovering marine biodiversity hotspots.
At the end of five years of extensive biodiversity exploration and assessment by the Census of Antarctic Marine Life (www.caml.aq), with 19 CAML-dedicated cruises in the whole Southern Ocean, and following the intense compilation efforts of biogeographic data by the SCAR-Marine Biodiversity Information Network (www.scarmarbin.be), a new initiative, the multi-authored “Biogeographic Atlas of the Southern Ocean”, will synthesize the CAML biogeographic results on the basis of an unprecedented amount, diversity and quality of biogeographic data.
The “Biogeographic Atlas of the Southern Ocean”, involving 60 contributors under the aegis of SCAR, will constitute a major scientific output of CAML and SCAR-MarBIN. It will take the form of a collection of maps and synthetic texts presenting the key biogeographic patterns and processes of the Antarctic marine biodiversity (benthos, plankton, nekton, birds and seals) south of 40°S. The hard copy version in large format will be extended by a dynamic online version on the SCAR-MarBIN portal.

At CCAMLR-XXIX the Scientific Committee requested that the Secretariat monitor trends in IUU effort rather than estimate IUU catch (SC-CAMLR-XXIX paragraph 6.5). The Secretariat has prepared a summary of reported IUU fishing activity in the Convention Area during the 2010/11 fishing season

This paper summarises historic effort and seabird bycatch during the pre-season extension period (15–30 April) in the Patagonian toothfish longline fishery in CCAMLR statistical division 58.5.2.  It notes that significant fishing effort has occurred in the pre-season extension period, by both of the longline vessels that operate in this fishery and in several seasons, and that no birds have been caught during this period.  It proposes that the current restriction of night-setting only be removed and that daylight setting of longlines be allowed during the pre-season extension period, subject to the continuation of the current total catch limit of three birds per vessel applicable to the season extension periods.

During April 2011, a multi-national group of scientists with expertise on Antarctic krill Euphausia superba and environmental sciences attended a workshop aiming to evaluate new knowledge on the impact of climate change and increasing fisheries on Antarctic krill and Antarctic ecosystems, and possible repercussions for resource management. The workshop was organised by the Institute of Marine Resources and Ecosystem Studies (IMARES) in the Netherlands, and funded by the European Commission and the Dutch government. The scientific evaluation focused on major agents of climate change, such as ocean warming, sea ice loss, and ocean acidification. It was concluded that the cumulative impact of climate change on krill is probably negative. To be able to account for climate change-induced ramifications on Antarctic krill and ecosystems, the adaptive capacity of the fisheries management of CCAMLR must be enhanced. To achieve this, critical knowledge gaps in the biology and ecology of Antarctic krill need to be closed. Research needs to be intensified on recruitment processes in Antarctic krill, under-ice and benthic habitat use, their capacity to adapt to environmental change, their ecosystem function, as well as the energy demand and food consumption of krill-dependent predators. With respect to CCAMLR’s ecosystem-based management approach, 10 recommendations were agreed on during the workshop. In particular, it was concluded that current precautionary management measures need to be maintained, until sufficient knowledge exists about the population levels of sustainability. It was further agreed that increasing the efficiency of CEMP is fundamental for a solid science-based management of the fishery.