Science Centres: Fisheries

 

Antarctic fisheries areas and the Antarctic Convergence.

World experts on ecosystem approaches to fisheries management will gather in Christchurch next month to discuss effects of fisheries on Antarctic ecosystems during meetings of CCAMLR, the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources.

CCAMLR was set up under the Antarctic Treaty system in 1982 to manage fisheries in the Southern Ocean and minimise their impacts on other marine life. “This is the first time CCAMLR will meet in New Zealand and the first time it will focus on the effects of finfish fisheries on the broader ecosystem,” says Dr Stuart Hanchet, a fisheries scientist at NIWA and co-convenor of a 1-day workshop on fisheries and ecosystem models in Antarctica.

Workshop participants will review what is known about the role played by krill, icefish, and toothfish in Antarctic ecosystems, what risks are posed by finfish fisheries, and how ecosystem models could help manage these risks.

Recommendations from the workshop will be considered by CCAMLR’s Scientific Committee in October.