CCAMLR and its approaches to management of the krill fishery

Polar Record ◽  
1991 ◽  
Vol 27 (162) ◽  
pp. 229-236 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Nicol

AbstractThe Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic MarineLiving Resources has met annually since 1982, with the task of implementing the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources; the treaty which was designed to manage rationally the exploitation of resources in the Southern Ocean. The central resource of the region is Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba Dana) and despite nine years of meetings the Commission has yet to adopt any conservation measures to protect krill. This article examines the published work of the Commission, seeking to determine how the Commission has dealt with the krill fishery and why it has not yet developed a krill management plan.

1992 ◽  
Vol 338 (1285) ◽  
pp. 311-317 ◽  

Management of Antarctic krill, Euphausia superba , and the mackerel icefish, Champsocephalus gunnari under the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) is discussed in relation to changes in their distribution and abundance arising from variation in circulation of the circumpolar current. It is concluded that on a Southern Ocean scale it is currently not possible to detect change but on a local scale, such as at South Georgia, major changes are detectable. These changes affect the krill fishery directly in terms of total catch and the way the fleets are deployed. Major local reductions in krill are thought to have a significant effect on natural mortality of the icefish.


2012 ◽  
Vol 75 ◽  
pp. 163-170 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anita H. Poulsen ◽  
So Kawaguchi ◽  
Catherine K. King ◽  
Robert A. King ◽  
Susan M. Bengtson Nash

2008 ◽  
Vol 20 (5) ◽  
pp. 437-440 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kunio T. Takahashi ◽  
Masaki Kobayashi ◽  
So Kawaguchi ◽  
Junko Saigusa ◽  
Atsushi Tanimura ◽  
...  

AbstractThe geographical distribution of protozoan parasiteCephaloidophora pacificaAvdeev (Order Eugregarininda) associated with Antarctic krill,Euphausia superba, was examined in samples collected from the vicinity of the Antarctic Peninsula, near Syowa Station, and Pacific and Indian sectors of the Southern Ocean.Cephaloidophora pacificawas found at all stations around the Antarctic, with 96.4% of the euphausiids infected (n = 195). The numbers ofC. pacificaper krill ranged from 0 to 8089 krill-1, and the average was 350.0 ± 787.8 (mean ± SD). The frequency distributions ofC. pacificashowed an overdispersed parasite population (i.e. the variance was greater than the mean) at all locations. Statistical analysis showed that whilst the geographical location did not have a significant effect on intensity ofC. pacificathe maturity stage of krill did, with an increasing intensity of infection as krill matures. The infestation ofE. superbaby eugregarinid protozoan is considered to be a circum-Antarctic phenomenon, and it occurs equally throughout the Southern Ocean.


2000 ◽  
Vol 57 (S3) ◽  
pp. 68-90 ◽  
Author(s):  
E A Pakhomov

Size/age composition and reproductive status of Antarctic krill, Euphausia superba, in the central part of the Indian sector of the Southern Ocean, e.g., the Cooperation Sea (Prydz Bay region) and the Cosmonaut Sea, during austral summers 1977-1990 were summarized to estimate growth rates, longevity, reproduction, recruitment, life span, and mortality rates. The life span of Antarctic krill exceeds 5 years in both the Cosmonaut and Cooperation seas. The age composition of the southern and northern groupings differs markedly, with substantial reduction in numbers of early age groups in the northern grouping. Long-term observations of spawning success, recruitment, and age composition suggest that a self-sustained grouping of krill persists in the Cooperation Sea south of the Antarctic Divergence. However, periodic gene flow via recruits from surrounding regions most probably accounts for the lack of spatial genetic differences between the Cooperation Sea and adjacent areas, thus preventing the establishment of an isolated subpopulation in the region investigated. The major factor responsible for the substantial interannual variability in krill dynamics appears to be macroscale oceanographic and atmospheric circulations, which determine a level of environmental isolation of the Cooperation Sea from adjacent waters.


2004 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 487-499 ◽  
Author(s):  
EILEEN E. HOFMANN ◽  
EUGENE J. MURPHY

Advective processes are recognized as being important in structuring and maintaining marine ecosystems. In the Southern Ocean advective effects are perhaps most clearly observed because the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) provides a connection between most parts of the system, including open ocean and continental shelf regions. The ACC also provides a mechanism for large-scale transport of plankton, such as Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba Dana), which is an important component of the Southern Ocean food web. This overview provides a summary of recent observational and modelling results that consider the importance of advection to the Southern Ocean ecosystem and, in particular, the role of advection in structuring the large-scale distribution of Antarctic krill. The results of these studies show that advection is a dominant process controlling Antarctic krill distribution and by inference an important process affecting overall structure and production of the Southern Ocean food web. The overview shows that quantifying the roles of advective and retentive physical processes, and population dynamic and behavioural biological processes in determining the regional and local distribution of krill and abundance will be an important research focus. Strategies for future Antarctic multidisciplinary research programmes that are focused on understanding advective processes at a circumpolar scale are suggested.


2005 ◽  
Vol 62 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
David A. Demer ◽  
Stéphane G. Conti

Abstract Antarctic krill, Euphausia superba, comprises the foundation of the foodweb in the Southern Ocean and is the target of a large fishery. Recently, the total abundance of krill in the Scotia Sea was estimated from an international echosounder and net survey (CCAMLR 2000) to be 44.3 million metric tonnes (Mt; CV 11.4%) (Hewitt et al., 2002). The new biomass estimate prompted the Antarctic Treaty's Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) to revise the precautionary catch level for krill in the area from 1.5 to 4 Mt (SC-CAMLR, 2000). These survey results are based on the total echo energy attributed to krill, scaled by the Greene et al. (1991) model of krill acoustical reflectivity or target strength (TS). Presented here is a re-analysis of the CCAMLR 2000 data incorporating recent improvements in the characterization of krill TS. The results indicate that the estimated krill biomass in the Scotia Sea may be as high as 192.4 Mt (CV = 11.7%), or as low as 109.4 Mt (CV = 10.4%), depending solely on the expected distribution of krill orientations. The new Stochastic, Distorted-Wave, Born-Approximation (SDWBA) TS model solved with an empirically estimated distribution of in situ orientations leads to a krill-biomass estimate that is nearly 2.5 times the previous estimate. In consequence, revisions may be warranted of the standard krill TS model, the CCAMLR 2000 biomass estimate, and the associated precautionary catch level for krill in the Scotia Sea.


2014 ◽  
Vol 71 (9) ◽  
pp. 2578-2588 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sophie Fielding ◽  
Jonathan L. Watkins ◽  
Philip N. Trathan ◽  
Peter Enderlein ◽  
Claire M. Waluda ◽  
...  

Abstract Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) are a key species in Southern Ocean ecosystems, maintaining very large numbers of predators, and fluctuations in their abundance can affect the overall structure and functioning of the ecosystems. The interannual variability in the abundance and biomass of krill was examined using a 17-year time-series of acoustic observations undertaken in the Western Core Box (WCB) survey area to the northwest of South Georgia, Southern Ocean. Krill targets were identified in acoustic data using a multifrequency identification window and converted to krill density using the Stochastic Distorted-Wave Born Approximation target strength model. Krill density ranged over several orders of magnitude (0–10 000 g m−2) and its distribution was highly skewed with many zero observations. Within each survey, the mean krill density was significantly correlated with the top 7% of the maximum krill densities observed. Hence, only the densest krill swarms detected in any one year drove the mean krill density estimates for the WCB in that year. WCB krill density (µ, mean density for the area) showed several years (1997/1998, 2001–2003, 2005–2007) of high values (µ > 30 g m−2) interspersed with years (1999/2000, 2004, 2009/2010) of low density (µ < 30 g m−2). This pattern showed three different periods, with fluctuations every 4–5 years. Cross correlation analyses of variability in krill density with current and lagged indices of ocean (sea surface temperature, SST and El Niño/Southern Oscillation) and atmospheric variability (Southern Annular Mode) found the highest correlation between krill density and winter SST (August SST) from the preceding year. A quadratic regression (r2 = 0.42, p < 0.05) provides a potentially valuable index for forecasting change in this ecosystem.


Zoology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 146 ◽  
pp. 125910 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katharina Michael ◽  
Lavinia A. Suberg ◽  
Wiebke Wessels ◽  
So Kawaguchi ◽  
Bettina Meyer

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