WG-EMM-17

In the 2013-14 reproductive season, the 26,000 pairs of Adélie penguins from Pétrel Island, Terre Adélie, failed to fledge their chicks. This catastrophic breeding failure resulted from two factors. First, the season saw an extreme sea-ice extent that forced Adélie parents to cover great distances to reach the open water during the incubation and early chick-rearing phases. The extended Read More
Submitted By:
Professor Philippe Koubbi (France)

Approved By:
Professor Philippe Koubbi (France)

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At last year’s meeting, it was agreed that a five-year work plan for the Scientific Committee should be developed for consideration by the Scientific Committee in 2017 (SC-CAMLR-XXXV, paragraphs 13.8 to 13.20). It was agreed that the work should be led by the Chair of the Scientific Committee with input from the conveners of its working groups and that it should be made available for Read More
Submitted By:
Dr Mark Belchier (United Kingdom)

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Unmanned Aerial Vehicles specially adapted for operation in polar regions were used to study distribution and population size of three Pygoscelis penguin species on King George Island, Chabrier Rock and Penguin Island (Subarea 48.1) in three austral summer seasons (2014/15, 2015/16, 2016/17). During these three expeditions 32 successful photogrammetry missions (total distance 3963,42 Read More
Submitted By:
Dr Małgorzata Korczak-Abshire (Poland)

Approved By:
Dr Małgorzata Korczak-Abshire (Poland)

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This document outlines the concept and rationale for movement to an instrument-based (moorings and gliders) program of oceanographic and ecological observations and research to support the U.S. commitment to CCAMLR and ecosystem science in the Southern Ocean. The U.S. AMLR Program's historical ship-based approach is no longer economically feasible. An instrument-based research program, in lieu Read More
Submitted By:
Dr George Watters (United States of America)

Approved By:
Dr George Watters (United States of America)

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A dedicated krill survey for CCAMLR Division 58.4.1 during 2018/19 season is planned by Japan. No krill biomass has been estimated in the Division since 1996 when Australia carried out BROKE. There are two main objectives of our survey: (1) estimation of krill biomass to update B₀ in the division and (2) oceanographic observations in the area to detect long term changes if Read More
Submitted By:
Dr Hiroto Murase (Japan)

Approved By:
Dr Taro Ichii

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To develop a long-term ecological research program at a breeding site of Adélie penguins, located in the Northern Victoria Land Coast, the Korea Polar Research Institute (KOPRI) carried out a preliminary survey on the population size and foraging trips of penguins at Cape Hallett. All sub-colonies were mapped using a portable DGPS and the data were complemented by comparing them with aerial Read More
Submitted By:
Dr Seok-Gwan Choi (Korea, Republic of)

Approved By:
Dr Seok-Gwan Choi (Korea, Republic of)

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We provide a brief update on the progress of our project “Tracking the overwinter habitat use of krill-dependent predators from Subarea 48.1”. The project was initiated with support from the CEMP Special Fund in 2015/16. With the assistance of the Secretariat, we purchased 150 ARGOS-based satellite transmitters and successfully deployed 130 instruments during the 2016/17 breeding season at Read More
Submitted By:
Dr Jefferson Hinke (United States of America)

Approved By:
Dr George Watters (United States of America)

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The distribution and abundance of krill aggregation inhabiting the Subarea 48.1, which includes the Elephant Island peripheries and the west and south of the South Shetland Island, were estimated using an acoustics survey. Acoustic data were collected with 38 and 120 kHz from April 13 to 24 in 2016 and 38 and 200 kHz from March 6 to 14 in 2017. Krill were collected by the commercial middle Read More
Submitted By:
Dr Seok-Gwan Choi (Korea, Republic of)

Approved By:
Dr Seok-Gwan Choi (Korea, Republic of)

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In 2015, the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle has started to develop a new data acquisition protocol for benthos bycatch in the French fisheries of the Southern Ocean (statistical areas 58.5.1, 58.6, 58.4.3a, 58.4.4b, 58.4.2) . This protocol aims at producing presence and abundance data of the benthic macro-invertebrates collected by the fishing gears. The main objective is to increase Read More
Submitted By:
Mr Alexis Martin (France)

Approved By:
Dr Marc Eléaume (France)

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We provide a brief update on the progress of our CEMP Special Fund project ‘Developing an image processing software tool for analysis of camera network monitoring data’. The project was initiated with support from the CEMP Fund in 2015/16. A software programmer has been engaged and is currently working within the Australian Antarctic Division’s Data Centre to refine the software and develop Read More
Submitted By:
Dr Colin Southwell (Australia)

Approved By:
Dr Dirk Welsford (Australia)

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We outline progress on current work aimed to improve estimates of flying seabird abundance, and ultimately krill consumption, from land-based breeding bird counts of five species (Antarctic petrel, Cape petrel, southern fulmar, snow petrel and Wilson’s storm petrel) in Divisions 58.4.1 and 58.4.2. We compiled information on the historical search effort in potential seabird breeding habitat in Read More
Submitted By:
Dr Colin Southwell (Australia)

Approved By:
Dr Dirk Welsford (Australia)

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Estimating the consumption of prey by higher-order predators is a priority for WG-EMM as an element in CCAMLR’s ecosystem-based approach to management for the krill fishery in the Southern Ocean. Previous assessments of prey consumption for seabirds have focussed on breeders using data recorded at the breeding colonies. However, recent work suggests that the size of the non-breeder component Read More
Submitted By:
Dr Colin Southwell (Australia)

Approved By:
Dr Dirk Welsford (Australia)

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The composition of penguin diet is currently monitored through the A8 CEMP Chick Diet monitoring parameter. The current Standard Method involves stomach lavage to collect the stomach contents of adult birds and sorting the samples to identify prey composition and mass. At WG-EMM-12 it was noted that Australia had stopped collecting penguin diet samples and that alternative, less invasive, Read More
Submitted By:
Dr Colin Southwell (Australia)

Approved By:
Dr Dirk Welsford (Australia)

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The Antarctic minke whale (Balaenoptera bonaerensis) is the most abundant baleen whale species in the Southern Ocean. Quantitative information on prey consumption of whales is useful to understand their feeding ecology and role in the Antarctic marine ecosystem. The purposes of this study were 1) to investigate the feeding habits of Antarctic minke whales based on information on prey Read More
Submitted By:
Dr Tsutomu Tamura

Approved By:
Dr Taro Ichii

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We provide a brief update on the progress of our project “Establishing a CEMP Camera Network in Subarea 48.1”. The project was initiated with support from the CEMP Special Fund in 2014/15. The project is now fully operational.  In 2016/17 data were recovered from 50 cameras covering 3 species (Adélie, gentoo, and chinstrap) of penguins throughout the range of the camera network. Data Read More
Submitted By:
Dr Jefferson Hinke (United States of America)

Approved By:
Dr George Watters (United States of America)

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The CCAMLR Ecosystem Monitoring Program (CEMP) was established to detect changes in the krill-based ecosystems, providing a basis for regulating harvesting of Antarctic living marine resources in accordance with the ‘ecosystem approach’.  This report provides:

1. Details on CEMP data that have been submitted for 2016/17, including an area-based comparison of the 2016/17 Read More
   Submitted By:
   Dr Keith Reid
   
   Approved By:
   Mr Andrew Wright (CCAMLR Secretariat)
   
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The sentiment of online content containing Antarctic krill fishing and related search terms 12 was analysed to evaluate public perception of the fishery, as a consideration in management 13 decisions. The Antarctic krill fishery is managed by the Commission for the Conservation of 14 Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) which aims to manage the fishery with 15 minimal ecosystem impacts. Read More
Submitted By:
Dr Keith Reid

Approved By:
Mr Andrew Wright (CCAMLR Secretariat)

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The attached draft Climate Change Response Work Program addresses the remaining Terms of Reference of the Intersessional Correspondence Group (ICG) to develop approaches for integrating considerations of the impacts of climate change into the work of CCAMLR (components of TORs 7 and 8). It aims to build on related work of the Commission, SC-CAMLR and its working groups, and to link with Read More
Submitted By:
Ms Eloise Carr (Australia)

Approved By:
Dr Dirk Welsford (Australia)

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With the recommencement of commercial krill (Euphausia superba) fishing in CCAMLR Divisions 58.4.1 and 58.4.2, off the coast of East Antarctica, Australia is adapting the risk assessment framework used in Area 48 to assess the risks involved in any redevelopment of a krill fishery and evaluate whether the current management procedure has a high likelihood of achieving CCAMLR’s Read More
Submitted By:
Dr Dirk Welsford (Australia)

Approved By:
Dr Dirk Welsford (Australia)

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In the report we inform shortly on the activity in the Ukrainian Vernadsky Antarctic Station area on service of CEMP cameras and installation ARGOS satellite tags in penguin colonies as part of the CEMP projects run by USA, Argentina, Poland and Ukraine 'Establishing a CEMP Camera Network in Subarea 48.1' and 'Tracking the overwinter habitat use of krill dependent predators from Subarea 48.1 Read More
Submitted By:
Dr Leonid Pshenichnov (Ukraine)

Approved By:
Dr Kostiantyn Demianenko (Ukraine)

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This study aims to improve understanding of spatial and temporal variability in krill fishing activity in MPA Planning Domain 1, towards the development of a ‘cost layer’ and additional information for use in Marxan analyses and subsequent MPA planning activities. We provide further detail on the location of areas of high concentration of krill catches or ‘hotspots’ in current fishing Read More
Submitted By:
Dr María Mercedes Santos (Argentina)

Approved By:
Dr Enrique Marschoff (Argentina)

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This draft is aimed to describe the process for the designation of an MPA in Domain 1 led by Argentina and Chile. The process has resulted in the compilation, analysis, integration and display of a large amount of information, not only contributing to the best science available but also providing a platform for the sharing and visualization of information. We highlight the multinational Read More
Submitted By:
Dr María Mercedes Santos (Argentina)

Approved By:
Dr Enrique Marschoff (Argentina)

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This report summarizes the results of a series of international workshops specifically develop to assist in the Domain 1 MPA planning process, including the 2012 - First International Workshop held in Valparaiso, Chile, (WG-EMM 12/69); the 2013 – Binational Workshop (Chile-Argentina) held in La Serena, Chile (WG-EMM 14/40), the 2015 - Second International Workshop for identifying Marine Read More
Submitted By:
Dr María Mercedes Santos (Argentina)

Approved By:
Dr Enrique Marschoff (Argentina)

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Conservation objects comprise different extensions and are distributed differently in Doman 1; while some of them occupy very small areas –such as polynyas– others extend over larger areas -like benthic ecoregions. In general, it is complicated to protect all spatial features especiallywhen their distribution is complex. The Domain 1 MPA model was generated based on priority areas for Read More
Submitted By:
Dr María Mercedes Santos (Argentina)

Approved By:
Dr Enrique Marschoff (Argentina)

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Norway is in the process of extending its monitoring efforts in the area around South Orkneys by deploying acoustic moorings in a commercially exploited area. Data gathered from the moorings will be used to parametrise models, in order to gain better understanding of the interaction between ocean physics and behaviour in driving krill biomass variation in the area.

An analysis of spatio-temporal variability of CPUE indices in the krill fishery in subarea 48.1 by years and small-scale management units, including inter-annual, monthly and inter-vessel variability with account of the fishing method used is presented. Particular attention is paid to the fishery in the Bransfield strait, where the main fishery in Subarea 48.1 is concentrated  The Read More
Submitted By:
Dr Svetlana Kasatkina (Russian Federation)

Approved By:
Dr Svetlana Kasatkina (Russian Federation)

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The inter-vessel variability of krill distribution in the catches obtained in the Bransfield Strait (SSMU APBSW and APBSE) in April and May 2014 and 2015 was analyzed. The presence of statistically significant differences in the krill length distributions from  catches obtained by the vessels operating in the fishing grounds with spatio-temporal overlapping is shown. At the same time, Read More
Submitted By:
Dr Svetlana Kasatkina (Russian Federation)

Approved By:
Dr Svetlana Kasatkina (Russian Federation)

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The analysis of euphausiid larvae collected during summer 2011 in the Weddell Scotia Confluence región, in 2012 on the WAP and Scotia Sea and 2014 on the South Orkneys Platform show a strong decrease in the abundance of Euphausia superba larvae and an increase in Thysanoessa macrura in 2011 and 2012 and a strong increase in the abundance of E. superba in 2014. Read More
Submitted By:
Dr Emilce Florencia Rombolá (Argentina)

Approved By:
Dr Enrique Marschoff (Argentina)

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The shelf regions around South Georgia and the South Orkney Islands are highly productive, supporting large colonies of higher predators, and with a history of commercial exploitation. Many of the key oceanographic and ecological processes determining the operation of these marine ecosystems operate over small spatial scales of <10 km. Understanding the drivers of variability in such Read More
Submitted By:
Dr Marta Söffker (European Union)

Approved By:
Ms Doro Forck (CCAMLR Secretariat)

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Effective management of the Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba, hereafter krill) fishery requires an understanding of the controls on the distribution and abundance of krill.  Particularly important are the pathways and timescales of movement and retention affecting krill distribution at scales relevant to the fishery and predators.  This paper reports the initiation of a Read More
Submitted By:
Dr Marta Söffker (European Union)

Approved By:
Ms Doro Forck (CCAMLR Secretariat)

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We present a preliminary analysis to estimate the consumption of prey by Adélie penguins Pygoscelis adeliae in Subareas 48.1 and 48.2 during the period when penguins are constrained by breeding. We parameterised our analysis using data from the population of Adélie penguins breeding at Signy Island, South Orkneys. We show that the highest levels of consumption occur during the crèche Read More
Submitted By:
Dr Marta Söffker (European Union)

Approved By:
Ms Doro Forck (CCAMLR Secretariat)

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Marine ecosystems are becoming increasingly threatened by anthropogenic disturbances, and understanding where marine top predators forage is vital to ecosystem based marine spatial planning. Using habitat models to understand which variables influence the distribution of predators at-sea can enable us to predict the distributions of un-tracked populations, and thus help to identify any Read More
Submitted By:
Dr Marta Söffker (European Union)

Approved By:
Ms Doro Forck (CCAMLR Secretariat)

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We show that the preferred habitat models developed by Warwick-Evans et al. (2017) for chinstrap penguins breeding at the South Orkney Islands, can be modified to predict the at-sea distribution of chinstraps breeding at the South Shetland Islands, based on the distance from the colony, and the bearing to the shelf edge, adjusting for the at-sea density of Pygoscelis penguins from Read More
Submitted By:
Dr Marta Söffker (European Union)

Approved By:
Ms Doro Forck (CCAMLR Secretariat)

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• We provide a method of analysing penguin tracking data to identify marine IBAs, based on pre-existing approaches but revised according to the specific ecology of Pygoscelis penguin species;

• Key improvements to the pre-existing approach include 1) refining track interpolation methods, and 2) revision of parameters for the kernel analysis (the smoothing factor and the Read More
Submitted By:
Dr Marta Söffker (European Union)

Approved By:
Ms Doro Forck (CCAMLR Secretariat)

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The Integrating Climate and Ecosystem Dynamics in the Southern Ocean (ICED) programme is undertaking integrated circumpolar analyses to improve our understanding of Southern Ocean change, the implications for ecosystems and for management. ICED’s current major focus is to build on this work to more comprehensively assess (and where possible quantify) key impacts of change on Southern Ocean Read More
Submitted By:
Dr Marta Söffker (European Union)

Approved By:
Ms Doro Forck (CCAMLR Secretariat)

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SO-AntEco was a British Antarctic Survey (BAS) led expedition undertaken in conjunction with an international team of scientists from the Scientific Committee for Antarctic Research (SCAR) AntEco research programme. The team included participants from nine different countries and 15 institutes. The expedition took place on board the BAS research ship RRS James Clark Ross in early 2016 Read More
Submitted By:
Dr Marta Söffker (European Union)

Approved By:
Ms Doro Forck (CCAMLR Secretariat)

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Summary of the SOOS West Antarctic Peninsula Working Group meeting held in Cambridge, UK, May 15-16th 2017

As part of the German contribution to Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), we will conduct an acoustic krill (Euphausia superba) biomass survey in CCAMLR division 48.1 during April 2018. The survey will be part of a larger research cruise (PS112) investigating the role of krill and salps in Southern Ocean carbon cycling and the temperature adaptation Read More
Submitted By:
Dr Lavinia Suberg (Germany)

Approved By:
Professor Thomas Brey

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The Antarctic krill fisheries have evolved to operate in ever more concentrated geographical areas of predictable high krill densities, and knowledge about trends and variability in krill biomass, distribution and swarm structure on these local scales seems critical for assessing the three-way interactions between krill, krill-dependent predators and the krill fishery. Acoustic data collected Read More
Submitted By:
Dr Xinliang Wang (China)

Approved By:
Dr Xianyong Zhao (China)

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The usability of CPUE data as Antarctic krill abundance index was a widely discussed issue. Many studies suggested the CPUE data should be standardized before using as abundance/biomass index. We tried to develop general additive models to standardize the CPUE data collected from Chinese fishing vessels during 2009/10 -2013/14 seasons. We also compared the CPUE data and acoustic data collected Read More
Submitted By:
Dr Yi-Ping Ying (China)

Approved By:
Dr Xianyong Zhao (China)

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This paper aims to bring to light specific issues which precluded support by Norway of the Weddell Sea MPA proposal tabled to CCAMLR in 2016 by the delegation of the European Union and its Member States. We present results from Marxan and other analyses conducted for the purpose of evaluating aspects of the Weddell Sea MPA planning process which were integral to the development of the proposal Read More
Submitted By:
Ms Martina Bristow (Norway)

Approved By:
Ms Doro Forck (CCAMLR Secretariat)

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The Ross Sea region MPA Research and Monitoring Plan Workshop (WS-RMP) was held at the Palazzo Farnesina (Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, MAECI) in Rome from 26–28 April 2017.

The purpose of the workshop was to develop a draft research and monitoring plan (RMP) for the Ross Sea region MPA. The RMP is required to be introduced to CCAMLR at the annual meetings Read More
Submitted By:
Mr Alistair Dunn (New Zealand)

Approved By:
Mr Alistair Dunn (New Zealand)

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Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba Dana) is a key species in the Southern Ocean ecosystems and supports different levels of predators. It is also an important economic species for Antarctic fisheries. In this paper, using the multi-frequency acoustic data and the fishery data, the relationship between the acoustic scattering coefficient of krill swarms and catch, catch per unit effort Read More
Submitted By:
Professor Guoping Zhu

Approved By:
Dr Xianyong Zhao (China)

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Understanding the fishing behavior of a kind of fishery is a very important part of developing and managing this fishery comprehensively. In this paper, based on the random walk model, the relationship between distance and frequency distribution of the adjacent krill fishing positions were analyzed in the subareas of the Commission for Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR Read More
Submitted By:
Professor Guoping Zhu

Approved By:
Dr Xianyong Zhao (China)

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In 2014, the Scientific Committee endorsed a proposal from South Africa that the Secretariat be tasked with developing a proposal for funding support from the Global Environment Facility to build capacity among GEF-eligible CCAMLR Member countries to strengthen their participation in CCAMLR (SC-CAMLR-XXXIII, paragraph 10.30).  This report updates CCAMLR Members on developments during 2017 Read More
Submitted By:
Mr Andrew Wright (CCAMLR Secretariat)

Approved By:
Mr Andrew Wright (CCAMLR Secretariat)

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Based on the discussion at EMM 2016 we here present challenges, results and potential of using a net cable to inform crew and scientists on trawl performance. Some results from ongoing tests demonstrate its potential in allowing observations of trawl in relation to krill distribution and behaviour, including real time imaging of krill and predator behaviour in relation to fishing gear during Read More
Submitted By:
Dr Olav Rune Godø (Norway)

Approved By:
Dr Olav Rune Godø (Norway)

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Information about catch and effort from the fishing fleet is vital for evaluation of the management of krill. The continuous trawling method requires adapted reporting procedures compared to traditional trawling. The present reporting procedure of 2-hour intervals has demonstrated imprecise and with some systematic errors in positioning the catch. In previous EMM meeting we proposed extending Read More
Submitted By:
Dr Olav Rune Godø (Norway)

Approved By:
Dr Olav Rune Godø (Norway)

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The physical marine environment around the Antarctic Peninsula (AP) is rapidly changing and we need to understand the impact on marine ecosystems. A diverse community of killer whales (Orcinus orca; Types B1, B2 and A) are important top predators around the AP, but there are currently no data on their abundance or trends. Most research to date has focused on the pagophilic Type B Read More
Submitted By:
Dr George Watters (United States of America)

Approved By:
Dr George Watters (United States of America)

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Breeding birds can increase their foraging efforts to feed chicks after hatching. We investigated how chinstrap penguins (Pygoscelis antarctica) differ foraging diving behaviors with breeding stages. During incubation and chick-rearing period, from December 2015 to January 2016 on King George Island, Antarctica, diving characteristics of breeding chinstrap penguin parents were Read More
Submitted By:
Dr Seok-Gwan Choi (Korea, Republic of)

Approved By:
Dr Seok-Gwan Choi (Korea, Republic of)

Publication:
Kor. J. Orni., 23 (1) (2016): 41–48

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Inter-annual variability in diet during crèche (December to February) over 22 years (1989 to 2010) was examined for gentoo penguins Pygoscelis papua breeding at Bird Island, South Georgia (54 º0’S, 38º2’W). Overall, diets comprised 51 % crustaceans and 49 % fish by mass. Crustaceans were present in 89 % of samples and were the main prey (> 50 % by mass) in 10 years of the study. Read More
Submitted By:
Dr Marta Söffker (European Union)

Approved By:
Ms Doro Forck (CCAMLR Secretariat)

Publication:
Mar. Biol. (accepted)

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Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) and salps are major macroplankton contributors to Southern Ocean food webs and krill are also fished commercially. Managing this fishery sustainably, against a backdrop of rapid regional climate change, requires information on distribution and time trends. Many data on the abundance of both taxa have been obtained from net sampling surveys since 1926, but much Read More
Submitted By:
Dr Susie Grant (United Kingdom)

Approved By:
Ms Doro Forck (CCAMLR Secretariat)

Publication:
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 9 (2017): 193–210, doi:10.5194/essd-9-193-2017

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The CAMLR Scientific Committee in 2016 reviewed three scientific background documents in support of the development of a CCAMLR MPA in the Weddell Sea. Germany was asked to carry out further work, in particular regarding the issues and questions raised at WG-EMM-16 and SC-CAMLR-XXXV.

Here, the authors intend to update the CCAMLR Working Groups on the current state of the work carried Read More
Submitted By:
Dr Katharina Teschke (Germany)

Approved By:
Professor Thomas Brey

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Fisheries discards have not been defined in a generally accepted form. The specialized literature reports their significant ecologic and economic impact. Their monitoring, control and minimisation have been recommended by several international bodies. Within CCAMLR different conservation measures deal with the problem following different approaches. A proposal to establish limits on the amount Read More
Submitted By:
Dr Enrique Marschoff (Argentina)

Approved By:
Dr Enrique Marschoff (Argentina)

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