Creating a Network of Marine Reserves

One of the major issues facing the UN convention on Biodiversity (UNCBD) is the creation of an effective global network of marine reserves. As ASOC colleague Richard Page reported from the recent UNCBD meeting in Japan, while progress is being made in this arena it may not be fast enough to meet the convention’s 2012 deadline.

It is difficult to stress how important this network of marine reserves, or Marine Protected Areas (MPA), is. When the UNCBD comes to an agreement it will be a network of hot spots of great biodiversity, which serve as breeding ground for some of our oceans’ most important creatures and also as precious habitat for many juvenile fishes. The greatest worry is that these biological hot spots are faced with decimation due largely to overfishing. When a bottom trawl, as wide as half the length of a football field, scrapes the sea bottom in these areas, picking up or destroying everything in its path, that area remains scarred and barren of life. Thus it is most important that we stress that the UNCBD push forward and make significant progress in the coming weeks and beyond.

In order to preserve these precious ecosystems, including Antarctica’s Ross Sea, which still remains largely untouched, it is absolutely necessary that such international bodies significantly restrict where destructive fishing practices and other marine industries may be carried out. Beyond the UNCBD it will be interesting to see what progress the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) delegates will make with this issue during their ongoing talks in Hobart, this week and next.

Krill: 1 species, 2 enemies

About 90 scientists and support staff set sail on the Aurora Australis, out of Hobart, Australia last week. Their ship will be dragging a small device that traps plankton. Specifically the group is interested in krill, which are at the base of - and one of the most important aspects to - the Antarctic food chain. Dr. Graham Hosie, who is leading the group says that over the years, with similar studies, his group has been finding fewer and fewer krill.

“They are extremely sensitive to their environment. We’ve found that even subtle changes in pattern across the ocean with the oceanography, natural patterns, the plankton can respond very abruptly in composition.

“So we are using the plankton as an indicator of ocean health.

“And because the are the foundation of the system, if they’re changing, we then look to see if there’s any flow-on effect through the rest of the ecosystem.”

This coincides well with a recent statement put out by the Pew Environment Group. Their Antarctic Krill Conservation Project (AKCP) is urging the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) parties at their upcoming meeting to require significantly increased scientific observation of the fishery. This comes at a time when krill fishing is at an all time high, having doubled in the last three years alone and showing no sign of slowing down.

Pew is calling on the CCAMLR parties to adopt precautionary measures to protect krill and the iconic ocean wildlife that depend on it.

To draw attention to the urgency of the problem, the AKCP created a photo petition website (which we’ve mentioned on the ASOC Facebook page) where people can upload their photos and ask CCAMLR to manage the krill fishery in a way that protects this important and delicate food source. The international photo mosaic has almost 10,000 photographs from individuals around the world who care about better protections for penguins. It will be delivered next week to the CCAMLR delegates when they meet to decide on how to manage the krill fishery.

As Dr. Hosie and his researchers have confirmed, krill are already facing great difficulty in dealing with the changing climate. With krill facing two enemies – climate change and over fishing – it is imperative that there be far greater controls over the krill fishing industry. As Hosie pointed out, krill act as a bellwether for what is to come for the rest of the Antarctic ecosystem. If krill continue to decline because of climate change and overfishing, the same effect will ripple through the bird and whale populations that rely on them so heavily.

Illegal fishing operators at it again

Researchers with the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD) recently set out to explore an "unexplored" region of the Southern Ocean, only to find deep, straight gouges in the ocean floor. The gouges are the likely result of illegal toothfish fishing in the area. The Commission on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) is the body that manages this region, and although in recent years it seemed to have had success in cracking down on the IUU free-for-all for toothfish that started in the 1990s, it clearly has not eliminated the problem. I hope the perpetrators of this fishing, which is described as very extensive by AAD researchers, are discovered. CCAMLR simply can't manage legal fisheries appropriately if there's such extensive IUU fishing going on.

Shame on the fishing operators who stole these fish and tore up the seafloor so they could sell a vulnerable species to the well-to-do.

South Orkneys Become the Newest Marine Protected Area

News broke yesterday that the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) declared its first Marine Protected Area below the Southe Orkney Islands in the Southern Ocean. With the CCAMLR meeting still fresh on the minds of ASOC campaigners this is an encouraging victory for them and the Antarctic community. It is also a huge step forward in working to conserve the delicate marine ecosystems around Antarctica. This and (hopefully) future MPAs will encourage further scientific investigation of differences between fished and protected areas of the Southern Ocean.

What makes this area especially important is that its unique natural features make it a key habitat for krill, which are both one of the main draws for fishing vessels to the Antarctic and an essential food source for so many of the Antarctic's marine species.

Save the Krill, Save the Penguins

For the past two weeks, ASOC campaigners have been working hard at the annual meeting of the Commission on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living resources (CCAMLR). CCAMLR is the body that manages fisheries in the Southern Ocean, and its management of the krill populations is particularly critical. Krill stocks are declining just as improved technology and a growing market for nutritional supplements are making the species more interesting to fishers. This year, ASOC delegates were urging that the krill catch be divided geographically even though it has not reached the size that CCAMLR previously decided would warrant such a division. The reason the catch needs to be divided further is that local depletions of krill can directly impact krill predators that forage nearby. Making sure that fishing vessels don't all target the same area makes it less likely that penguins, whales and seals will be affected by the catch.

A lot of companies that produce krill oil often note that the size of the krill catch is small compared to the estimated krill population. However, as mentioned local depletions can have a big impact, and as krill populations continue to decline hard choices may have to be made. As in, do penguins deserve life even if it means someone can't purchase a cheap nutritional supplement of dubious effectiveness (the American Heart Association doesn't recommend fish oil supplements for people without heart disease)? I know which one I'd rather have.

The EU Takes on Vidal Armadores

A while ago, I wrote about Greenpeace's efforts to pressure the Spanish government into ending its subsidies and other support for Vidal Armadores S. A., a Spanish fishing company blacklisted by CCAMLR for pirate fishing. It looks as though their efforts have paid off, as a recent story (use Google translator if you can't read Spanish) reports that the government plans to take legal action against the company. The European Union has also gotten involved, with Joe Borg, Commissioner of Fisheries and Maritime Affairs for the European Commission (executive branch of the EU) stating that he would take action against Spain if their authorities do not fulfill their EU obligations with respect to illegal fishing.

This is obviously good news, and I hope that it is just the start of the international community taking pirate fishing at least half as seriously as the recent Somali pirate attacks. Pirate fishing (or, somewhat less glamorously, Illegal, Unregulated, Unreported/IUU fishing) in the Southern Ocean and other areas flourishes because governments either look the other way or, in Spain's case, provide overt support to known violators. CCAMLR blacklists are exactly kept secret.

Given that fish stocks worldwide are severely depleted, it is appalling that we've heard more about Somali piracy from major media sources in the last month than we usually do about IUU fishing in a year. Somali piracy is a serious but relatively localized problem. Pirate fishing, on the other hand, has had a negative effect on global fish stocks, accelerates the collapse of the populations of high-value species, and deprives local fishers in developing countries of an important source income and nutrition. Furthermore, fish populations do not always recover after years of overfishing - inaction now only increases the likelihood that some species will be lost forever. So it is not an exaggeration to say that pirate fishing is a problem that affects everyone, everywhere.

For too long, the political will to take on these lawbreakers has been lacking. Few governments or regulatory bodies have taken truly bold action to preserve marine resources, whether by enacting appropriate regulations or enforcing existing ones. To be fair, it would be nearly impossible to patrol all the seas at all times for illegal fishers and illegal fishing practices, but in this and many other cases such effort is not necessary. Start by enforcing the law against blacklisted ships.

To make a dent in illegal fishing, the international community will have to undergo something of a revolution in values. Healthy marine ecosystems have a long-term value for humans that is far greater than the price that this year's toothfish catch will bring. When one considers that the health of a major resource is at stake, the lack of attention paid to illegal fishing is no less shocking than it would be if a government failed to arrest someone who was systematically burning down every house in a neighborhood. Those are your fish they're killing.

The EC Commissioner's announcement that he expects Spain to enforce the law or face legal action is promising, assuming he follows through. It's time to stop acting as if illegal fishing is a victimless or minor crime.

Hooked and Booked

Greenpeace has uncovered unsettling evidence that the Spanish government has been subsidizing a company known to engage in Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) fishing in the Southern Ocean. The company, Vidal Armadores S. A., is blacklisted by the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), which regulates fishing in the Southern Ocean. Why is a blacklisted ship receiving several million euros from the Spanish government? It is unclear, but unlikely that the Spanish government can claim ignorance. According to Greenpeace, New Zealand inspectors uncovered evidence that a Namibian-flagged ship called the Paloma V was involved in illegal transshipments - the transfer of illegal fish catches from one ship to another - in April 2008. Their evidence implicated several ships in the Vidal fleet in these transshipments.

The Spanish government went ahead and signed an agreement with the Namibian government to allow one of the ships identified by NZ to fish in Namibian waters. They've also assisted Vidal with obtaining other contracts and licenses. One of the fish they are involved with illegally catching is the Patagonia toothfish, which is quickly nearing extinction due to legal and illegal overfishing. Transshipment and other loopholes are widely used by pirate fishers so they can reap enormous profits without getting in trouble.

As Greenpeace says, it's time to hook and book illegal fishers. The Spanish government needs to stop subsidizing and helping Vidal, and start prosecuting those involved in illegal fishing activity. Global fishing stocks are in decline. If all the catch limits and regulations of CCAMLR and other bodies are to be at all effective, countries must enforce existing anti-IUU laws (and probably add new laws and punishments). It's all too easy for people to ignore overfishing, particularly when it's done in the Southern Ocean, far away from any governments who could object or patrol. But the ocean belongs to us all, and damaged ecosystems do not only have local repercussions. When companies such as Vidal flout the law so openly, they indeed need to be hooked and booked, not subsidized.

CCAMLR Protects Seabed

Last week's CCAMLR meeting produced an important result: the delegates voted to protect two 400 square kilometer areas of seabed by designating them vulnerable marine ecosystems (VMEs) in which certain damaging fishing methods are prohibited. Australia led the designation effort, and Australian delegation leader Dr. Tony Press likened the areas, home to vibrant cold-water coral communities, to the Great Barrier Reef. The Australian Antarctic Division (AAD), which Dr. Press directs, explored these regions earlier this year as part of the Collaborative East Antarctic Marine Census, itself part of the Census of Marine Life. The AAD-led expedition discovered new species and uncovered an amazing range of seabed life. Video of these unique communities can be viewed at the AAD website. Significantly, the protection agreement is structured so that other areas with similar ecological qualities can also be made off limits to fishing when identified.

Bottom fishing presents an enormous threat to these and other seabed communities. Fishing vessels drag huge nets across the ocean floor, which releases clouds of sediment large enough to be seen from space. Large metal plates and rubber wheels attached to these nets move along the bottom and crush nearly everything in their path. Seafloor animals simply cannot survive this kind of onslaught, particularly if areas are trawled repeatedly. The Marine Conservation Biology Institute estimates that bottom trawling kills twenty pounds of "bycatch "for every pound it harvests. Bycatch refers to animals killed or caught incidentally in the process of catching desired species. Because of the damage to marine life and the seafloor, ASOC recommends a comprehensive moratorium on high-seas bottom trawling. The CCAMLR measure is an important and promising step in the right direction, but only protects a fraction of the areas at risk from this unacceptably destructive fishing method.

Pirates Are Attacking Toothfish

Illegal Antarctic toothfish catches have risen from 3% of the total catch to 17% since 2003 according to the World Wildlife Federation (WWF) and TRAFFIC. Toothfish, more euphemistically known as Chilean Sea Bass, gained popularity with diners and chefs in the 1990s because of their moist flesh. Populations of this species, which is slow to reach sexual maturity, quickly declined. Although the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) regulates toothfish catches, such regulations cannot be effective in preserving numbers if illegal fishing runs rampant.

WWF and TRAFFIC recently presented a report to CCAMLR urging member states to increase trade sanctions against countries that fail to adquately police their countries' ships when they engage in illegal fishing. Although patrolling can discourage illegal fishers, they often just move to less-monitored areas. The report also advocates greater monitoring of legal ships and catches and urges CCAMLR to incorporate additional information into its estimates of IUU fishing, which the report asserts are lower than the actual percentage. Inaccurately low estimates of illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing cause a number of problems. CCAMLR catch limits, which incorporate IUU estimates, may be higher than the population can actually support. Other measures designed to prevent bycatch or incidental mortality of other species and environmental damage will be less effective because IUU fishing vessels are unlikely to use them. CCAMLR should seriously consider the report's recommendations and take action to prevent illegally obtained toothfish from reaching the market. Without more consistent enforcement, this valuable fish could be driven to the brink of extinction.

For more information, check out ASOC's paper on the need for trade measures to promote compliance in enforcing existing fishing regulations in CCAMLR.