WG-IMAF-2026

The meeting will start with an introduction by the Conveners and information to delegates of administrative, technical, and organizational matters.

The agenda for the meeting was developed following the revised workplan identified by the Scientific Committee in 2025. The agenda will be reviewed, modified as necessary and adopted.

The Working Group will review the Terms of Reference and the workplan (See SC-CIRC 23/52 and the combined work plan set out in https://meetings.ccamlr.org/en/p/sc-strategic-workplan).

The Working Group will review the development of tools to analyse incidental mortality at finer spatial and temporal scales (intersessional task 1.1), and progress made on the development of a web-based tool to allow examination of interactions and incidental mortality data across CCAMLR fisheries (intersessional task 1.2).
The Working Group will also review the development of risk assessment for seabirds and marine mammals (intersessional task 3.1), and develop an overlap analysis for seabirds and marine mammals to identify areas of high risk associated with fishing (intersessional task 3.2).

The Working Group will review any changes in the conservation status and population trends of marine mammals affected by incidental mortality associated with fishing operations.

The Working Group will review any incidents and work to minimise the risk to marine mammals from interactions with fishing gears. Investigate the use of underwater sensors/cameras attached to the trawl to provide information on the occurrence of whale interactions and any subsequent entanglements (intersessional task 2.2), and review of elephant seal incidental mortality (including additional information on abundance trends and foraging behaviour for populations affected) (intersessional task 2.4).

The Working Group will consider any proposed mitigation methods to reduce interactions of marine mammals with fishing gears, including the review of designs of marine mammal exclusion devices and the development of specifications for those in use in CCAMLR trawl fisheries (intersessional task 4.1), and review outcomes from experiments into effectiveness of different MMEDs (intersessional task 4.2).
The Working Group will review the need for additional data to be collected by observers and crew when whale interactions with fishing gear occurs (intersessional task 2.1).

The Working Group will review any changes in the conservation status and population trends of seabird affected by incidental mortality associated with fishing operations.

The Working Group will consider further development of observer sampling required for estimation of warp strikes (intersessional task 5.1), including implications for observation protocols (intersessional task 5.2), and review approaches to estimate total warp strikes given the sampled periods (intersessional task 5.3). The WG will review submitted papers relative to required levels of observer sampling for estimation of seabird incidental mortality in longline fisheries (intersessional task 5.4).
The Working Group will also consider any new information regarding the composition of stick water from krill trawlers, and discuss its potential effect as an attractor in the immediate vicinity of the vessel (intersessional tasks 5.5, 5.6 and 5.7).

The Working Group will consider the performance of trawl warp/cable strike mitigation approaches utilised by continuous trawlers, as well as improvements in the design and develop specifications of the "sock" (intersessional task 6.1), review existing use of and consider mitigation requirements in conventional trawlers and develop specifications for suitable mitigation (intersessional task 6.2).

The Working group will consider IMAF-related tasks for observers in the various CCAMLR fisheries (intersessional task 7.1), and the use of EM and AI to improve the efficiency of data collection to aid observers (intersessional task 7.2).

The Working Group will review information presented on the effects of marine debris on marine mammals and seabirds in the Convention Area (intersessional task 8.1).

The Working Group will consider options presented for the management of light pollution for vessels fishing in the Convention Area (intersessional task 9.1).

The Working Group will consider items of future work and intersessional work including review of high priority items to progress 2023-2027 as in the agreed workplan (https://meetings.ccamlr.org/en/p/sc-strategic-workplan).

The WG will consolidate advice from all agenda items for the Scientific Committee.