The results of the practical revision of approaches to developing fisheries management in Subarea 48.1 undertaken by the Working Groups in response to the Commission's recommendations (CCAMLR-38, paragraph 5.17) highlight the lack of adequate scientific information to develop sound fisheries management appropriate to the current krill stock and indicate a critical shortage of standardised acoustic krill surveys.
The revision of krill management in Subarea 48.1, as well as in Subareas 48.2–48.4, should not be conducted in stages but rather as part of a coordinated management framework for krill fisheries in Area 48, requiring the development of a krill stock structure hypothesis and data on spatial and temporal distribution patterns of krill. We propose to design and implement a system of standardised acoustic surveys, including synoptic and regional krill surveys in Area 48, accompanied by comprehensive environmental data collection and observations of marine mammals and seabirds. Implementing such a system of standardised surveys, encompassing Subareas 48.1 to 48.4, would provide the necessary and sufficient scientific support to develop a fisheries management strategy and provide the scientific basis for a comprehensive revision of CM 51-07 and CM 51-01. Additionally, the proposed system of standardised acoustic surveys would allow for the establishment of feedback-based science and monitoring for krill resource management in response to the Commission's recommendations (CCAMLR-XXXV, paragraphs 5.17–5.19), which remain unimplemented.
Proposals and comments on the development of a krill resource management strategy for Area 48 in the context of the revision of fisheries management in Subarea 48.1.