Antarctic seabirds are important indicator species for CCAMLR’s ecosystem monitoring program (CEMP) to identify and assess impacts and change in Southern Ocean ecosystems, and to ensure a sustainable krill fishery taking account the needs of krill-dependent predators. Previously, we reported on developments in seabird monitoring approaches (e.g. remote-operating time-lapse cameras, prey DNA from faecal samples to assess diet) to allow monitoring at a spatial scale commensurate with management measures. Here we describe Australia’s longer-term seabird monitoring plans and approach including the spatial and temporal scales for delivering large-scale seabird monitoring for achieving CCAMLR’s objectives. We outline issues that we considered to apply our approach for the outcomes of providing an empirical ‘health check’ on ecosystem status, as well as for the development and updates of the Spatial Overlap Analysis. We believe these two approaches are complementary and together increase our capacity to understand underlying mechanisms of change and to support and assess management strategies. Furthermore, both approaches draw on similar parameter datasets obtained from land-based predator monitoring.
We recommend that 1) the health check concept should be a fourth component of the revised krill management approach to provide an empirical backup to data gaps and uncertainties of the Spatial Overlay Analysis; 2) the review of CEMP addresses specific questions relating to both the health check and Spatial Overlay Analysis approaches; and 3) the monitoring principles underlying the Australian seabird monitoring program redesign may be relevant for the review of CEMP for the krill management approach.