Report on United States research and monitoring in support of the Ross Sea region Marine Protected Area

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.