CCAMLR spatial management GIS: potential applications for informing the development of a representative system of MPAs

We have developed a Geographic Information System (GIS) and accompanying metadata to store and deliver data on CCAMLR’s management units and spatially resolved conservation measures. The GIS facilitates easy mapping of CCAMLR’s spatial management framework and associated conservation measures, and standardises this information in terms of projection and coastline position. Access to spatially derived parameters through the database may be useful in the design and implementation of protected areas as part of the development of a representative system of Antarctic marine protected areas (MPAs), for example by allowing accurate calculation of existing management areas, and management area specific statistics including proportions of areas with particular characteristics. We present database outputs including the location and extent of existing spatial management, the distribution of pelagic bioregions across spatial management units, the proportion of bioregion areas open to fishing, and the proportion of bioregion areas protected by MPAs. The database also provides a central repository for information on the location and status of designated MPAs, which will be a key requirement for the effective development and maintenance of a representative system of Antarctic MPAs.