Following the submission of a first draft Conservation Measure for establishing a MPA in the Weddell Sea (WSMPA) to CCAMLR 2016, Germany has carried out further work on the WSMPA proposal with a view for a revised CM proposal to be submitted by the EU to CCAMLR 2018.
This document informs SAM about the following revisions carried out to the WSMPA proposal which would fall under the remit of SAM or might be of interest to participants at SAM 2018:
- Unifying the previously two separate WSMPA parts into one coherent WSMPA by closing the gap on the eastern coast of the Antarctic Peninsula;
- Adjustment of the habitat of adult Antarctic toothfish in statistical areas 48.6 and 48.5 as a result of further analyses and modelling of the habitat of adult Antarctic toothfish;
- Establishment of scientific reference areas in statistical subarea 48.6 for monitoring the effects of harvesting on Antarctic marine living resources;
- Changes to the WSMPA Management Plan and the WSMPA Research and Monitoring Plan, inter alia, by taking into account the outcome of the CCAMLR Workshop for the Development of a D. mawsoni Population Hypothesis for Area 48.
The document also seeks the advice of SAM 2018 as regards the design of the fisheries research zone (FRZ) foreseen in the draft WSMPA Conservation Measure and the establishment (number, location and size) of unfished scientific reference areas in the habitat for adult Antarctic toothfish in statistical subarea 48.6 (see point 3 above), which could be used for comparative studies into the potential impacts of D. mawsoni fishing operations on the ecosystems and food webs, of which this species is a part.