Principle Three: Management System Background

The fishery is subject to an effective management system that respects local, national and international laws and standards and incorporates institutional and operational frameworks that require use of the resource to be responsible and sustainable.

In the following section of the report a brief description is made of the key characteristics of the management system in place to ensure the sustainable exploitation of the fishery under assessment.

3.5.1 Jurisdiction and management system

The fishery is managed mainly by CCAMLR, in interaction with the Norwegian Ministry/Directorate of Fisheries and the Government of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (GSGSSI). CCAMLR coordinates scientific research and observer programmes, establishes TAC and distributes quotas between subareas. The Norwegian Ministry/Directorate of Fisheries issues fishery permits and performs quota control of the client vessels. CSGSSI issues permits for the vessels in the SGSSI Maritime Zone.

CCAMLR was established in 1982 with the objective inter alia of conserving Antarctic marine life. Based on the best available scientific information, the Commission agrees a set of conservation measures that determine the use of marine living resources in the Antarctic. The key institutional components of CCMLAR are the CAMLR Convention (with supportive regulations), the decision-making Commission, the Scientific Committee and the Secretariat located in Hobart, Tasmania. The Commission determines the regulatory framework applied to the management of each fishery in the Convention Area, including catch limits and seasonal or area closures and measures aimed at minimizing potential impacts of fishing activities on non-target species and the ecosystem. The Standing Committee on Implementation and Compliance, subordinate to the Commission, provides it with information, advice, recommendations on fishery monitoring and compliance. The Scientific Committee provides the Commission with the best available scientific information on harvesting levels and other management issues. In turn, the Commission is obliged by the Convention to take full account of the recommendations and advice of the Scientific Committee in making its decisions. The Scientific Committee takes into account the outcomes of research from national programmes of CCAMLR members. In addition CCAMLR has established a number of programmes to collect the data required for the effective management of the Southern Ocean, including fisheries monitoring, scientific observers on fishing vessels and ecosystem monitoring (see Fig. 14).

Norway has a well-established system for fisheries management, which has evolved over more than a century and is now codified in its 2008 Marine Resources Act. The Act provides for a formal system of cooperation between regulatory bodies of governance, such as the Ministry of Fisheries and Coastal Affairs, the Directorate of Fisheries and the Coast Guard, and further for cooperation between management authorities and scientific research institutes, primarily the Institute of Marine Research. The 2008 Integrated Management Plan for the Norwegian Sea provides for cooperation between different sector authorities, such as the Ministry of Fisheries and Coastal Affairs and the Ministry of Environment.

GSGSSI is based in Government House in the Falkland Islands and has a Director of Fisheries among its staff. It is mainly involved in the licensing of vessels that fish in the South Georgia Maritime Zone, catch monitoring at King Edward Point in South Georgia and at sea-surveillance in the Maritime Zone. A Marine Protected Area was introduced in 2012 and reinforced in May 2013, including a no-fish zone within 12 nautical miles of the coast.

Figure 14: The management system for Antarctic krill.

Source: The client

3.5.2 Interest groups and consultation processes

The Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition (ASOC) had been actively involved in marine management in the Antarctic since the establishment of CCAMLR and was given observer status in 1991. ASOC is also a key partner to the Antarctic Krill Conservation Project, which is an international effort managed by the Pew Foundation to secure from CCAMLR an ecosystem-based fisheries management programme for krill that is highly precautionary, scientifically based and protects the unique environment of the southern polar region.

At national level in Norway, WWF is actively consulted on krill issues by Norwegian fisheries management authorities. For instance, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs invites stakeholders, including WWF, to meetings before CCAMLR meetings in order to discuss relevant issues, including for the management of krill. WWF has been invited to become part of the Norwegian delegation to CCAMLR, but has chosen to remain an independent actor.

A formal partnership between the client and WWF-Norway has existed since 2006 with the common goal of sustainable management of fish and krill, and combating illegal harvesting. A new three-year agreement was signed in 2012.

The joint activities of Aker BioMarine and WWF-Norway include promoting environmental labelling and ensuring traceability throughout the fisheries value chain, from harvesting through to products purchased by consumers. WWF-Norway will play a key role too of bringing critical external stakeholder input into the management process for the fishery under assessment.

3.5.3 Objectives and regulation measures

All CCAMLR fisheries are managed within a precautionary and ecosystem approach, as defined by the FAO in its Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries, and are consistent with MSC Principles and Criteria. At national level in Norway, the 2008 Marine Resources Act, which covers all living marine resources, requires that Norwegian fisheries management be guided by the precautionary approach and by an ecosystem approach that takes into account habitats and biodiversity.

The three main objectives of the CCAMLR management system are (Article 2 of the Convention): a) prevention of decrease in the size of any harvested population to levels below those which ensure its stable recruitment; for this purpose its size should not be allowed to fall below a level close to that which ensures the greatest net annual increment; b) maintenance of the ecological relationships between harvested, dependent and related populations of Antarctic marine living resources and the restoration of depleted populations to the levels defined in sub-paragraph a) above; and c) prevention of changes or minimization of the risk of changes in the marine ecosystem which are not potentially reversible over two or three decades, taking into account the state of available knowledge of the direct and indirect impact of harvesting, the effect of the introduction of alien species, the effects of associated activities on the marine ecosystem and of the effects of environmental changes, with the aim of making possible the sustained conservation of Antarctic marine living resources.

The aims of these three objectives mirror and preceded the establishment of the aims of MSC Principles 1 and 2. CCAMLR‘s more specific, short- and long-term strategy for achieving these objectives is reflected in Conservation Measure 51-01 (2010) A precautionary krill catch limit of 5.61 million tonnes is set for Area 48, based on the potential yield estimate. This is well above the current catch and will allow for expansion. However, a "catch trigger" (620 000 t) is set not to be exceeded until a procedure for division of the overall catch limit into smaller management units has been established, based on advice from the Scientific Committee. The objective of this division is to avoid possible unacceptable concentration of catch within the foraging areas of vulnerable predators. Although the trigger level is close to the highest global annual catch to date, it is significantly more than the largest annual catch to date in Area 48.

In general, CCAMLR has well-established decision-making processes. They allow for stakeholder input and clear scientific analysis of the data available within the Working Groups and Scientific Committee, and they result in conservation measures and fisheries strategies designed to achieve their short- and long-term fishery-specific objectives.

3.5.4 Monitoring, control and surveillance

CCAMLR provides a clear and comprehensive monitoring system and control framework for Antarctic fisheries. Surveillance of CCAMLR fisheries is undertaken by Member States and incorporates the CCAMLR observer scheme. For the client fishery, enforcement is mainly taken care of by the Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries, which has demonstrated a consistent ability to enforce relevant regulations. Vessels are licensed on an annual basis and report catches from each haul through their electronic logbooks; for client vessels that implies at two-hour intervals. In order to receive a license for the Antarctic krill fishery, Norwegian vessels are obliged to have an observer on board at all times. When entering the South Georgia Maritime Zone, vessels need to apply for a licence and pay a fee. All vessels are inspected by the South Georgia administration at King Edward Point before they are allowed to start fishing. They have to report catches on a daily basis and are also inspected by a patrol vessel during fishing operation.

3.5.5 Research plan and reviews

A comprehensive research plan by CCAMLR exists for krill fisheries, focusing on the monitoring of krill catches, scientific observation and environment monitoring (Fig. 15). The CCAMLR Ecosystem Monitoring Programme provides cross-cutting data on environment and predator abundance to link into fisheries data and targets research at an ecosystem approach to management of the krill fishery. An additional research programme for the client group vessels has been developed between Aker BioMarine and British Antarctic Survey and utilising CCAMLR Scientific Observers supplied by MRAG. Data requirements above and beyond the standard set of CCAMLR observer data have been defined and implemented.

CCAMLR conducts ongoing internal reviews of its processes and the performance of its Member States to meet the fishery-specific management requirements outlined. These requirements are reviewed annually (to fit in with the annual fisheries cycle) by the appropriate CCAMLR Working Groups (e.g. seabird mortality will be analysed by the Working Group on Incidental Mortality of Associated Fauna). CCAMLR was subject to a comprehensive external performance review during 2008, but such external review is not regular. The review was carried out by a panel appointed by the Commission composed of nine persons (see http://www.ccamlr.org/pu/E/revpanrep.htm).

The purpose of the performance review was to evaluate the Commission‘s performance against comprehensive criteria and specifically against the objectives and principles set out in Article II of the Convention. The review states that the stock status and trends are broadly consistent with Article II of the Convention and international best practice. With particular reference to krill fisheries, it identified the need for ongoing research into predator–prey linkages in ecosystem modelling and adequate monitoring and management within krill fisheries.

Figure 15: The management plan for Antarctic krill.