Using spatial population models to investigate the potential effects of the Ross Sea region Marine Protected Area on the Antarctic toothfish population

AbstractWe developed a random, stratified, vertical longline survey in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica, to compare the local age and size composition, diet and reproductive status of Antarctic toothfish (Dissostichus mawsoni) with those observed from a vessel-based survey of the southern Ross Sea shelf that includes a McMurdo Sound stratum. Results indicated that southern McMurdo Sound toothfish were larger and older than those a short distance away in northern McMurdo Sound. These data, in addition to recoveries of tagged fish, suggest that the large toothfish in McMurdo Sound may have limited mixing with the rest of the population. The potential effects of climate change and fishing in northern areas on toothfish abundance in McMurdo Sound will depend on the mechanism of toothfish recruitment to McMurdo Sound. Understanding the ecological relationships between McMurdo Sound toothfish and the larger population is required to predict these impacts. Furthermore, because toothfish predators (type C killer whalesOrcinus orca, Weddell sealsLeptonychotes weddellii) are abundant in the south-west margins of the Ross Sea, it is important to monitor toothfish in McMurdo Sound as part of the monitoring programme for the Ross Sea region Marine Protected Area.

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MPAs in the Southern Ocean under CCAMLR

The Korean Journal of International and Comparative Law ◽

10.1163/22134484-12340147 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 (1) ◽

pp. 84-107

Author(s):

Karen N. Scott

Keyword(s):

Southern Ocean ◽

Protected Area ◽

Marine Protected Area ◽

Ross Sea ◽

Coastal Areas ◽

Antarctic Marine ◽

National Jurisdiction

Abstract In 2016, the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) designated the largest marine protected area (MPA) in the Ross Sea. Hailed as both a precedent and a prototype for MPAs in both Antarctica and in areas beyond national jurisdiction more generally, it is nevertheless proving challenging to implement. Moreover, further MPAs have yet to be designated in the region although a number are under negotiation. This article will evaluate the contribution made by CCAMLR to the implementation of SDG 14.5 (the conservation of at least 20 per cent of marine and coastal areas by 2020), its relationship to area-based protection under the 1991 Environmental Protocol, and highlight the challenges of establishing MPAs beyond the jurisdiction of states.

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Long-term soundscape monitoring in the Ross Sea and its marine protected area

10.1121/2.0001273 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Giacomo Giorli ◽

Matt H. Pinkerton

Keyword(s):

Protected Area ◽

Marine Protected Area ◽

Ross Sea

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Two Key Developments in Polar Law and Diplomacy: A New Arctic Science Agreement and Establishment of the World’s Largest Marine Protected Area in Antarctica’s Ross Sea

The Yearbook of Polar Law Online ◽

10.1163/22116427_010010003 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 10 (1) ◽

pp. 11-20

Author(s):

Evan T. Bloom

Keyword(s):

Protected Area ◽

Marine Protected Area ◽

Ross Sea ◽

Arctic Science

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Dispute Settlement under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea: Survey for 2010

The International Journal of Marine and Coastal Law ◽

10.1163/157180811x592101 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 26 (4) ◽

pp. 495-523 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Robin Churchill

Keyword(s):

United Kingdom ◽

Protected Area ◽

Dispute Settlement ◽

Marine Protected Area ◽

Law Of The Sea ◽

Advisory Opinion ◽

The Law ◽

The Antarctic ◽

Chagos Archipelago

AbstractThis is the seventh of a series of annual surveys reviewing dispute settlement in the law of the sea both under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and outside the framework of the Convention. The main developments during 2010 were the commencement of four new, and very different, cases—a request for an advisory opinion in the Responsibilities and Obligations of States sponsoring Persons and Entities with respect to Activities in the Area case and three contentious cases, the Whaling in the Antarctic (Australia v. Japan), the M/V Louisa (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines v. Kingdom of Spain) and Dispute concerning the ‘Marine Protected Area’ related to the Chagos Archipelago (Mauritius v. United Kingdom) cases—and an order by the ITLOS declining to prescribe provisional measures in the M/V Louisa case.

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United States–New Zealand Proposal for Marine Protected Area in Ross Sea Fails to Win Required Unanimous Approval

The American Journal of International Law ◽

10.1017/s000293000001335x ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 107 (4) ◽

pp. 928-929

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

New Zealand ◽

Protected Area ◽

Marine Protected Area ◽

Ross Sea ◽

Unanimous Approval

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Visual Imaging of Benthic Carbonate-Mixed Factories in the Ross Sea Region Marine Protected Area, Antarctica

Minerals ◽

10.3390/min11080833 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (8) ◽

pp. 833

Author(s):

Giorgio Castellan ◽

Lorenzo Angeletti ◽

Simonepietro Canese ◽

Claudio Mazzoli ◽

Paolo Montagna ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Protected Area ◽

Marine Protected Area ◽

Ross Sea ◽

Austral Summer ◽

Coralline Algae ◽

Benthic Organisms ◽

Remotely Operated Vehicle ◽

Terra Nova Bay ◽

Visual Imaging ◽

Ca Carbonate

Marine biogenic skeletal production is the prevalent source of Ca-carbonate in today’s Antarctic seas. Most information, however, derives from the post-mortem legacy of calcifying organisms. Prior imagery and evaluation of Antarctic habitats hosting calcifying benthic organisms are poorly present in the literature, therefore, a Remotely Operated Vehicle survey was carried out in the Ross Sea region Marine Protected Area during the 2013–2014 austral summer. Two video surveys of the seafloor were conducted along transects between 30 and 120 m (Adelie Cove) and 230 and 260 m (Terra Nova Bay “Canyon”), respectively. We quantified the relative abundance of calcifiers vs non-calcifiers in the macro- and mega-epibenthos. Furthermore, we considered the typology of the carbonate polymorphs represented by the skeletonized organisms. The combined evidence from the two sites reveals the widespread existence of carbonate-mixed factories in the area, with an overwhelming abundance of both low-Mg and (especially) high-Mg calcite calcifiers. Echinoids, serpulids, bryozoans, pectinid bivalves and octocorals prove to be the most abundant animal producers in terms of abundance. The shallower Adelie Cove site also showed evidence of seabed coverage by coralline algae. Our results will help in refining paleoenvironmental analyses since many of the megabenthic calcifiers occur in the Quaternary record of Antarctica. We set a baseline to monitor the future response of these polar biota in a rapidly changing ocean.

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