ASOC
This is a guest blog written by Dr. Rodolfo Werner, a wildlife conservationist who has devoted his professional career to the study and conservation of the Patagonian Sea, the Southern Ocean, and Antarctica. For more than two decades, Rodolfo has served as an advisor to the Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition (ASOC) and the Pew Charitable Trusts. He has focused his work on the management of the Antarctic krill fishery and the establishment of marine protected areas in Antarctica. Rodolfo has represented ASOC in the Scientific Committee at the meetings of the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) for over 20 years.
Recently, I visited Incheon, a modern, clean, and orderly satellite city of Seoul, South Korea, on an important krill-related mission: developing a way forward on krill fishery management and a marine protected area (MPA) in the Antarctic Peninsula. In honor of World Krill Day, I’d like share with you more about why people from all over the world traveled to Incheon to talk about krill.
A bit of background:
Krill is a species of crustacean that can grow up to 6 cm and live up to 11 years. Krill are central in the food web of the Antarctic marine ecosystem and most Antarctic species either consume krill or consume something that eats krill. Therefore, a healthy krill population is necessary to maintain healthy ecosystems in the Southern Ocean. The international organization that ensures the conservation of Antarctic krill, and all Antarctic marine life, is the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR). CCAMLR, which counts 26 countries and the EU as members, is also responsible for fisheries management in the Southern Ocean.
Krill are particularly important to the Antarctic Peninsula ecosystem, which is rich in biodiversity, including penguins, seals, whales, and flying birds. The region is particularly affected by climate change as one of the fastest warming areas on the planet over the last 50 years. The Antarctic Peninsula is also home to the Antarctic krill fishery, the largest fishery in the Southern Ocean.
Managing krill fisheries and protecting ecosystems
Krill fishing activity has increased significantly in the last ten years, taking place in coastal areas that are important feeding grounds for a long list of predators, including penguins, seals, and whales. This is particularly concerning during the breeding season when these species need greater access to krill in areas close to their colonies. Without sufficient food, young penguins and seals may not survive.
For over a decade, CCAMLR has had a legally binding Conservation Measure (CM) to try to prevent fishing from competing with other species for krill. In recent years, however, krill fishing has become increasingly concentrated, causing localized depletion of krill and negative effects on predators such as penguins, all at a time when climate change is increasingly affecting the ecosystem. Thus, CCAMLR scientists have been working on developing a new, smaller-scale fishery management system, based on updated science, to minimize the impact of this activity on krill-dependent species.
At the same time, CCAMLR has separately been considering a proposal for a large-scale marine protected area (MPA) in the Antarctic Peninsula. This is part of CCAMLR’s commitment to creating a system of MPAs in the Southern Ocean, in line with a growing body of evidence that MPAs are a highly effective conservation tool. CCAMLR has created two MPAs so far, and there are now four proposals for MPAs in other regions of the Southern Ocean.
The MPA proposal for the Antarctic Peninsula, also known as Domain 1, was developed and presented by Argentina and Chile in 2018, but has not yet been agreed by CCAMLR. This proposal is particularly relevant in the context of the Antarctic krill fishery and the development of a new fishery management plan. Despite being discussed in numerous technical meetings and annual CCAMLR meetings, its approval has not advanced.
Why we need an MPA and better fisheries management in the Peninsula
Despite occupying the same geographic area, krill fishery management and the proposed MPA in the Antarctic Peninsula have not yet been considered together. Coordinated agreements are necessary to determine which areas will be closed (i.e., where fishing will be prohibited) and which areas will be subject to the new fishery management. This was the objective of the symposium in Incheon: to establish and relate fishery management to the marine protected area for this specific region in a coordinated manner. Although this need may seem obvious, it has taken several years for CCAMLR to decide to initiate such a process.
Fortunately, CCAMLR realized an integrated plan was the best opportunity to progress both krill fishery management and the Antarctic Peninsula MPA. Without an integrated plan, it would be very difficult or even impossible to get agreement on krill fishery management or the MPA.
To achieve these objectives, it was crucial to have the participation of all groups – countries with fishing interests in this area, the countries that support the MPA, the fishing industry, and environmental civil society. The symposium, which lasted a week, offered a unique opportunity to have honest and open conversations, where everyone participated and had a chance to understand the different points of view. The meeting also provided a good opportunity to clarify the views of different participants and understand their priorities.
Scientists, policy experts, the fishing industry, and ASOC came together for small group discussions, brainstorming, and plenary. This was in contrast to the structured, more formal meetings of CCAMLR. We discussed various scenarios for the D1MPA, using the proposal developed by Argentina and Chile as a basis, in relation to krill catch limit proposals for smaller management units located in this area. The discussions were characterized by intellectual honesty and a collaborative spirit. In this way, an agreed harmonized compromise scenario was reached between the D1MPA proposal and the new krill fishery management approach.
During the discussions, the importance of monitoring to determine the effectiveness of conservation measures for both the fishery and the MPA was addressed. It was agreed that it is essential to conduct an analysis of existing information gaps in this regard.
The participation of ASOC and PBOL (Pew Bertarelli Ocean Legacy) in the symposium was an integral part of the meeting. ASOC was represented on the meeting’s steering committee along with a number of CCAMLR countries, and provided financial support for the workshop. ASOC also participated actively in the meeting to highlight the importance of key conservation aspects and underscored the relevance of specific areas. The work of CIES Korea (an ASOC member organization) was fundamental in making the meeting a success at an organizational level.
The conclusions and recommendations of the meeting were agreed upon by the participants and will be presented at the next meeting of the Scientific Committee and the CCAMLR Commission in October this year in Hobart, Tasmania. Our hope is that the symposium results will serve as a foundation for discussions that will allow for a new Conservation Measure (CM) to establish the Domain 1 MPA, along with a modification of fisheries management CMs, or the introduction of a new CM to establish krill catch limits in smaller units.
Finally, perhaps this example of how to harmonize conservation and fishing objectives could serve as a basis in the discussions of the other MPA proposals that CCAMLR is considering, allowing for progress on them as well.
We returned from South Korea with a renewed hope. The stage is set for agreement on the Domain 1 MPA and the management of the Antarctic krill fishery this October. We urge CCAMLR Members to seize this unique opportunity to take a positive step towards designating a representative network of MPAs in the Southern Ocean.