Comments on the Krill Management Approach in Area 48 (On the Issue of Ecosystem Effects of Krill Fishery)

The multidisciplinary investigations accompanied with acoustic, trawl and oceanographic sampling, regular at-sea observations on marine birds and mammals carried out by the RV Atlantida in 2020 in the Antarctic Peninsula Subarea (48.1) casts doubt on the hypothesis of the impact of fishing on krill resource as well as on dependent predators via the tropic chains in the context of competitive relations between fisheries and dependent predators for the krill. In general, obtained results suggest the possibility of spatial overlap between fishing hotspots and dependent predators, but this is not sufficient to conclude functional overlap.