Об экосистемном подходе АНТКОМ к управлению промыслом антарктического криля (обзор)
Current krill fisheries in the Antarctic is reviewed in the context of its direct anthropogenic influence on the ecosystem, but its effects have not been identified so far. Two stages in its development and management are identified. It is shown that the first stage of the Antarctic fish resources exploitation (1961-1982) covered the time span from the beginning of international fishing up to the creation of CCALMR. At the first stage, the USSR began extensive stock research studies (1961), trawl fishing, and Antarctic krill fisheries (1966-1973) in the Atlantic Antarctic and the Indian Ocean Antarctic. Starting from 1973, the vessels under the flags of Japan, Poland, Germany, the Republic of Korea, France, Chile, etc. joined the Soviet fishing. This stage is defined by the growth of unregulated and unrestricted fishing in the area, as flag states did not regulate fishing operations of their vessels. The highest trawl catches of marbled rockcod Notothenia rossii (400,000 tons in 1970) and Antarctic krill Euphausia superba (582,000 tons in 1982) were recorded during that period. From 1966 to 1982, 2.09 million tons of fish (notothens and white-blooded fish species) and 2.08 million tons of krill were totally caught in the Antarctic. It is noted that Antarctic fishing was developed simultaneously with whaling (1947-1987): about 1 million whale individuals were hunted in the area during this period. It is suggested that high-rate whaling was the most influential factor for the Antarctic ecosystem. Following the initiative of the states, participating in the Antarctic Treaty (1959) and concerned about anthropogenic influence on the Antarctic ecosystem, including rapid growth of krill catch, the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (the CCALMR Convention) was developed in 1980. The international organisation named Commission on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) was created on its basis in 1982. The second stage, from 1982 up to present days (2015), is defined as the beginning and development of regulatory activities of the Antarctic Commission that intended to regulate fishing operations in the Antarctic based on the ecosystem approach to fisheries management for the first time in the world practice. CCAMLR established the threshold krill catch limit at the level of 620,000 tons in the Atlantic Antarctic (FAO area 48), which makes up 1 % of the stock volume in the Atlantic Antarctic, assessed by CCALMR and equalling 60.3 million tons. It is estimated that krill catch at the threshold level will not harm the ecosystem. Modern krill catch is conducted according to the Olympic Creed. At the second stage, 1.327 million tons of fish and 5.821 million tons of krill were caught from 1983 to 2013. Average krill catches made up 244,000 tons, or 0.4 % of the stock in 2013-2015. Due to extremely low rates of annual krill catches as compared to its stock volumes in the area and due to the volumes of annual krill expatriation from adjacent areas to the areas of commercial fisheries and volumes of grazing by predators (catch share is estimated to be 1.6 % of the total consumption volume), CCALMR was unable to identify the evidence of both the impact exerted on the ecosystem components by fishing activities and the feedback, as required by the ecosystem approach to fisheries management. One of the reasons is the absence of survey data on more influential factors: changes in climate and currents force, ice coverage fluctuations, sea surface temperature increase, etc. In the context of data shortage, CCLAMR had to take precautionary approach to krill catch management, using an artificial component: criteria of precaution, derived from simulations, speculations and assumptions. Aiming at lowering the level of prospective local impact of fishing on predators, CCALMR distributed the threshold krill catch level for the Atlantic Antarctic (620,000 tons) between the quotas for four sub-areas. In case the threshold catch limit (620,000 tons) in the Atlantic Antarctic is reached, CCALMR recommends to restrict catches by the member states to the volumes of re-evaluated TAC (1.3 million tons), but to allocate it to small-scale management units (SSMUs). For another thing, the main catch has to be obtained in the areas out at sea. It is estimated that catch cost efficiency will be significantly reduced that way. Currently, international krill catch in the Atlantic Antarctic is a crucial component of total anthropogenic impact on this part of the Antarctic ecosystem, but its importance for the ecosystem is still unknown. Simultaneously, krill stock is significantly underexploited, and expansion of its catches seems promising. However, the increase of fishing vessels number in the Atlantic Antarctic, including those equipped for uninterrupted trawling, will lead to not only reaching threshold catch level, but also TAC in the near future. The question, whether CCALMR will be able to reconcile the interests of ecosystem conservation and catches development, remains unanswered. Up to present, not a single state and not a single international organisation on fishing management took up the ecosystem approach to fisheries management. Today, CCALMR is considered to be a pioneer in ecosystem approach development and attempts of its application. However, its implementation appeared to be almost impossible under the condition of absence of multi-annual expeditionary ecosystem monitoring. Now, since three decades after the CCALMR creation, it has to be acknowledged that real implementation of this approach in the Antarctic still has not happened. Expected development of international krill catch should be based on the results of marine ecosystem studies, and it is possible that international cooperation will be crucial to facilitate them. It is expected that, in case of significant increase in world krill consumption, its catches can become a permanent and principal factor for the ecosystem impact in certain areas of the Antarctic. In this case, a distinctive ecological regime, or «local fisheries ecosystem», will develop, and the humans will become dominant krill consumers.
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| Format: | Journal Contribution biblioteca |
| Language: | Russian |
| Published: |
2017
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| Subjects: | Euphausia superba, Krill fisheries, Fishery organizations, CCAMLR, Quota regulations, Anthropogenic effect, Legal aspects, Disputes, Stock assessment, Trawling, Ecosystem approach, Global warming, Fisheries management, Environmental conditions, |
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1834/11023 |
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