Draft Research and Monitoring Plan for the South Orkney Islands Southern Shelf Marine Protected Area (MPA Planning Domain 1, Subarea 48.2)

We present a revised draft Research and Monitoring Plan (RMP) for the South Orkney Islands Southern Shelf MPA, with the aim of further harmonizing CM 91-03 and CM 91-04. The draft RMP is based on the draft initially proposed in 2014 (SC-CAMLR-XXXIII/11) and revised in 2018 (SC-CAMLR-XXXVII/09). It aims to address the requirements of CM 91-04, and takes account of general principles from the Ross Sea region MPA RMP (SC-CAMLR-XXXVI, paragraphs 5.39 to 5.42), as well as recent general discussions on the development of RMPs. The plan outlines research and monitoring topics relevant to specific MPA objectives. A project list and a list of baseline data relevant to the designation and review of the SOI SS MPA are appended. We request that WG-EMM considers and provides advice to the Scientific Committee on whether the draft RMP meets the requirements of CM 91-04, or on how it may require further development.