CCAMLR

2020 marks the deadline for global leaders to reach marine conservation targets agreed under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). ASOC strongly believes that for too long CCAMLR has failed to act decisively in the face of the climate and biodiversity crisis, and that this year the need and opportunity to act are critical. ASOC recommends that CCAMLR, at this year’s meeting:

1.     Adopt the East Antarctic MPA (EAMPA) with no limit to its duration, incorporating all three proposed areas (MacRobertson, Drygalski and D’Urville Sea-Mertz).

2.     Adopt Phase 1 of the Weddell Sea MPA (WSMPA) and work towards adopting Phase 2 no later than 2023. Neither Phase 1 nor Phase 2 should have a limit to their duration.

3.     Adopt the Domain 1 MPA (D1MPA), with no limit to its duration, including the extension of no-take zones to all areas previously identified as critical, such as the areas around Elephant Island, to ensure conservation objectives are met.

4.     Continue work to establish a representative system of comprehensive, adequate and representative MPAs, with significant no-take areas and no limits to their duration, across all planning domains.

The Secretariat received fishery notifications for exploratory fisheries for toothfish and krill fisheries for 2020/21. No notifications were received for new fisheries. The summary details of all fishery notifications are in this paper, the full details for the consideration of Members of the Commission are available to authenticated users through the CCAMLR website Fishery Notifications.

The Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) adopted the Ross Sea region Marine Protected Area (RSRMPA) in 2016, which entered into force in 2017. The RSRMPA was established to conserve marine living resources, maintain ecosystem structure and function, protect vital ecosystem processes and areas of ecological significance, and promote scientific research. This report summarizes the types of United States’ research and monitoring in support of the RSRMPA. We identified 480 relevant awards, which funded research throughout the region between 1980 and 2020. These awards cover a wide range of research within the general study topics of Ecosystems, Fisheries, and Climate Change and Oceanography. Awards related to the study topics of Ecosystems and Climate Change and Oceanography were common, with Fisheries awards being less common. Sixty-four of these awards are active or ongoing, with 30 awards originating since the RSRMPA entered into force. Awards made prior to the time that the RSRMPA entered into force contribute baseline data to the protected area. In total, the awards mapped to most of the specific MPA objectives. This paper details the commitment of the U.S. Government to research within the RSRMPA and contributes to a foundation for future analysis of the effectiveness of the MPA for the 2022 scientific review.

At CCAMLR-38, the Delegation of the European Union and its Member States and Norway proposed that the Weddell Sea Marine Protected Area (WSMPA) should be adopted by CCAMLR in two phases: WSMPA Phase 1 and WSMPA Phase 2. A proposal to establish WSMPA Phase 1 has been submitted to CCAMLR-38. At this point, we provide brief information on the achievement of the WSMPA conservation features and their conservation targets for WSMPA Phase 1.

Antarctic krill, Euphausia superba, supports a valuable commercial fishery in the Southwest Atlantic, which holds the highest krill densities and is warming rapidly. The krill catch is increasing, is concentrated in a small area, and has shifted seasonally from summer to autumn/winter. The fishery is managed by the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources, with the main goal of safeguarding the large populations of krill dependent predators. Here we show that, because of the restricted distribution of successfully spawning krill and high inter-annual variability in their biomass, the risk of direct fishery impacts on the krill stock itself might be higher than previously thought. We show how management benefits could be achieved by incorporating uncertainty surrounding key aspects of krill ecology into management decisions, and how knowledge can be improved in these key areas. This improved information may be supplied, in part, by the fishery itself.