Pressures affecting Antarctic fisheries

Antarctic environment (2016, 2011)

Pressures affecting Antarctic fisheries

Extraction of biotic resources—krill

This assessment summary component has changed from 2011.

In 2011, 'extraction of biotic resources—finfish' and 'extraction of biotic resources—krill' were combined in 'extraction of biotic resources'.

The original 2011 summary, grade, trend and confidence levels have been replicated here to assist comparison of changes between reporting cycles.

Extraction of biotic resources

Currently, krill catches are below the catch limits set by CCMALR. However, in the South Atlantic, the krill fishery is expanding. Environmental changes will negatively impact krill, which could make this species vulnerable

Year(s):

2016

Unclear

Confidence (in grade):

Limited

Confidence (in trend):

Limited

Comparability (to previous reports):

Comparable

Extraction of biotic resources—krill

20162011

Antarctic environment

Pressures

Approach/Process

Expert consultation was used to determine state and trends.

Data/Information sources

In addition to the references cited in the 'Pressures' section, the following references also support this assessment:

Bodin & Ãsterblom 2013

Bodin Ö & Österblom H (2013). International fisheries regime effectiveness activities and resources of key actors in the Southern Ocean. Global Environmental Change, 23: 948-56.

Flores et al. 2012

Flores H, Atkinson A, Kawaguchi S, Pakhomov E, Quetin L, Ross R, Hill S, Reiss C, Siegel V & Tarling G (2012). Impact of climate change on Antarctic krill. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 458:1-19.

Hill et al. 2013

Hill S, Phillips T & Atkinson A (2013). Potential Climate Change Effects on the Habitat of Antarctic Krill in the Weddell Quadrant of the Southern Ocean. PloS One, 8, e72246.

Kawaguchi et al. 2009

Kawaguchi S, Nicol S & Press AJ (2009). Direct effects of climate change on the Antarctic krill fishery. Fisheries Management and Ecology 16:424–427.

Kawaguchi & Nicol 2015

Kawaguchi S & Nicol S (2015). Euphausia superba, Antarctic krill. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, e.T64239743A64239951.

Ãsterblom & Bodin 2012

Österblom H & Bodin Ö (2012). Global cooperation among diverse organizations to reduce illegal fishing in the Southern Ocean. Conservation Biology, 26:638-648.

Piñones & Fedorov 2016

Piñones A & Fedorov A (2016). Projected changes of Antarctic krill habitat by the end of the 21st century. Geophysical Research Letters 43(16):8580-8589.

Comments

Overall, the assessment remains the same as in 2011.

Topics

Pressures on the marine environment

Rapidly increasing catches of krill and new fishing technologies threaten to outstrip the ability to sustainably manage fisheries

Year(s):

2011

Deteriorating

Confidence (in grade):

Limited

Confidence (in trend):

Limited

Comparability (to previous reports):

Not assessed

Topics

Pressures on the marine environment

Extraction of biotic resources—finfish

This assessment summary component has changed from 2011.

In 2011, 'extraction of biotic resources—finfish' and 'extraction of biotic resources—krill' were combined in 'extraction of biotic resources'.

The original 2011 summary, grade, trend and confidence levels have been replicated here to assist comparison of changes between reporting cycles.

Extraction of biotic resources

The Australian EEZ off Heard Island and McDonald Islands, and Macquarie Island supports fisheries for toothfish and icefish that have a high level of independent monitoring. Government and independent bodies have assessed them as ecologically sustainable

Year(s):

2016

Stable

Confidence (in grade):

Adequate

Confidence (in trend):

Adequate

Comparability (to previous reports):

Not assessed

Extraction of biotic resources—finfish

20162011

Antarctic environment

Pressures

Approach/Process

Expert consultation was used to determine state and trends.

Data/Information sources

In addition to the references cited in the 'Pressures' section, the following references also support this assessment:

Burch et al. 2015

Burch P, Peron C, Welsford D, Ziegler P, Lamb T, Robertson T, Duhamel G, Gasco N, Pruvost P, Chazeau C & Sinegre R (2015). Progress report on the Australian Fisheries Research and Development Corporation project to develop robust assessment methods and harvest strategies for spatially complex, multi-jurisdictional toothfish fisheries in the Southern Ocean, The Fisheries Research and Development Corporation.

Day et al. 2016

Day J, Haddon M & Hillary R (2016). Stock Assessment of the Macquarie Island fishery for Patagonian toothfish (Dissostichus eleginoides) using data up to and including August 2015, CSIRO, Hobart, Report to SARAG 53, 9 February 2016.

Smith et al. 2014

Smith KR, Woodward A, Campbell-Lendrum D, Chadee DD, Honda Y, Liu Q, Olwoch JM, Revich B & Sauerborn R (2014). Human health: impacts, adaptation, and co-benefits. In: Field CB (ed.) Climate Change 2014: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability. Part A: Global and Sectoral Aspects. Contribution of Working Group II to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change. Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA: Cambridge University Press.

Comments

Overall, the assessment remains the same as in 2011.

Topics

Pressures on the marine environment

Rapidly increasing catches of krill and new fishing technologies threaten to outstrip the ability to sustainably manage fisheries

Year(s):

2011

Deteriorating

Confidence (in grade):

Limited

Confidence (in trend):

Limited

Comparability (to previous reports):

Not assessed

Topics

Pressures on the marine environment

Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing

IUU fishing for toothfish remains a serious threat in the Southern Ocean; impact is difficult to ascertain with accuracy, but it threatens the sustainability of harvested and dependent species.

Recent multilateral initiatives have led to the cessation of IUU activities off East Antarctica

Year(s):

2016

Improving

Confidence (in grade):

Limited

Confidence (in trend):

Limited

Comparability (to previous reports):

Comparable

Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing

20162011

Antarctic environment

Pressures

Approach/Process

Expert consultation was used to determine state and trends.

Data/Information sources

In addition to the references cited in the 'Pressures' section, the following references also support this assessment:

Bodin & Österblom 2013

Bodin Ö & Österblom H (2013). International fisheries regime effectiveness activities and resources of key actors in the Southern Ocean. Global Environmental Change, 23: 948-56.

Österblom & Bodin 2012

Österblom H & Bodin Ö (2012). Global cooperation among diverse organizations to reduce illegal fishing in the Southern Ocean. Conservation Biology, 26:638-648.

Österblom et al. 2015

Österblom H, Bodin Ö, Sumaila U & Press A (2015). Reducing illegal fishing in the Southern Ocean: a global effort. Solutions, 4:72-9.

Schultz et al. 2015

Schultz L, Folke C, Ãsterblom H & Olsson P (2015). Adaptive governance, ecosystem management, and natural capital. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 112, 7369-74.

Comments

Overall, the assessment remains the same as in 2011. One difference, however, is that IUU fishing has been reduced through improved compliance.

Topics

Pressures on the marine environment

Remains a serious problem in the Southern Ocean; impact is difficult to ascertain with accuracy, but it threatens the sustainability of harvested and dependent species

Year(s):

2011

Deteriorating

Confidence (in grade):

Limited

Confidence (in trend):

Limited

Comparability (to previous reports):

Not assessed

Topics

Pressures on the marine environment

Ocean acidification

Some marine organisms are already affected by ocean acidification, including through reduced calcification of shells and exoskeletons. Current impact is probably low, but is expected to lead to measurable changes in the Southern Ocean ecosystem and change in species composition in the longer term

Year(s):

2016

Deteriorating

Confidence (in grade):

Limited

Confidence (in trend):

Limited

Comparability (to previous reports):

Comparable

Ocean acidification

20162011

Antarctic environment

Pressures

Approach/Process

Expert consultation was used to determine state and trends.

Data/Information sources

In addition to the references cited in the 'Pressures' section, the following references also support this assessment:

Dupont et al. 2010

Dupont S, Ortega-Martinez O & Thorndyke M (2010). Impact of near-future ocean acidification on echinoderms. Ecotoxicology 19:449–462.

Frommel et al. 2012

Frommel AY, Maneja R, Lowe D, Malzahn AM, Geffen AJ, Folkvord A, Piatkowski U, Reusch TBH & Clemmesen C (2012). Severe tissue damage in Atlantic cod larvae under increasing ocean acidification. Nature Climate Change 2(1):42–46.

Hendriks et al. 2010

Hendriks IE, Duarte CM & Álvarez M (2010). Vulnerability of marine biodiversity to ocean acidification: a meta-analysis. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 86(2):157–164.

Seibel et al. 2012

Seibel BA, Maas AE & Dierssen HM (2012). Energetic plasticity underlies a variable response to ocean acidification in the pteropod, Limacina helicina antarctica. PLoS ONE 7(4):e30464, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0030464.

Comments

Overall, the assessment remains the same as in 2011.

Topics

Pressures on the marine environment

Some marine organisms already affected by ocean acidification, including reduced calcification of shells and exoskeletons; current impact is probably low but expected to lead to measurable changes in the Southern Ocean ecosystem and change in species composition

Year(s):

2011

Deteriorating

Confidence (in grade):

Limited

Confidence (in trend):

Limited

Comparability (to previous reports):

Not assessed

Topics

Pressures on the marine environment

CCAMLR = Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources; EEZ = exclusive economic zone; IUU = illegal, unreported and unregulated

Assessment Summary Key

Grades

Very low impact

There are few short-term, reversible impacts from this factor

Low impact

There are transitory impacts from this factor, but they are locally restricted

High impact

There are significant impacts from this factor that may become irreversible in future and become effective regionally

Very high impact

There are predicted significant impacts from this factor that are irreversible, and impact is regional

Recent Trends

Improving
Stable
Deteriorating
Unclear

Confidence

Adequate: Adequate high-quality evidence and high level of consensus
Somewhat adequate: Adequate high-quality evidence or high level of consensus
Limited: Limited evidence or limited consensus
Very limited: Limited evidence and limited consensus
Low: Evidence and consensus too low to make an assessment

Comparability

Comparable: Grade and trend are comparable to the previous assessment
Somewhat comparable: Grade and trend are somewhat comparable to the previous assessment
Not comparable: Grade and trend are not comparable to the previous assessment
Not previously assessed

Klekociuk A, Wienecke B (2016). Antarctic environment: Pressures affecting Antarctic fisheries. In: Australia state of the environment 2016, Australian Government Department of the Environment and Energy, Canberra, https://soe.environment.gov.au/assessment-summary-711-pressures-affecting-antarctic-fisheries, DOI 10.4226/94/58b65b2b307c0

The assessment summaries in State of the Environment reporting provide snapshots of key information, and focus on identifying areas for continued or more concentrated attention on strengthening environmental systems to cope with pressures in the future. Assessment summaries are provided for state and trend, pressures and management responses in each of the themes. The summary text in the assessment tables should be read in conjunction with the explanatory text in each section of the theme chapters.

The authors have indicated the strength of the evidence for assessments with a ‘level of confidence’. If adequate high-quality data were available or consensus was high, confidence is indicated as high. If there were only limited data or consensus to determine grades, confidence is indicated as low. Where data are insufficient to attempt scores, this is also indicated, and the component remains on the list to remind readers that it is still an important aspect of the Australian environment, and that more information is needed to improve our understanding and capacity to respond to environmental challenges.

Pressures affecting Antarctic fisheries