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An Assessment for Fisheries Operating in South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands

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An Assessment for Fisheries Operating in South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands FAO International Plan of Action-Seabirds: An assessment for fisheries operating in South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands by Nigel Varty, Ben Sullivan and Andy Black BirdLife International Global Seabird Programme Cover photo – Fishery Patrol Vessel (FPV) Pharos SG in Cumberland Bay, South Georgia This document should be cited as: Varty, N., Sullivan, B. J. and Black, A. D. (2008). FAO International Plan of Action-Seabirds: An assessment for fisheries operating in South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands. BirdLife International Global Seabird Programme. Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, The Lodge, Sandy, Bedfordshire, UK. 2 Executive Summary As a result of international concern over the cause and level of seabird mortality in longline fisheries, the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) Committee of Fisheries (COFI) developed an International Plan of Action-Seabirds. The IPOA-Seabirds stipulates that countries with longline fisheries (conducted by their own or foreign vessels) or a fleet that fishes elsewhere should carry out an assessment of these fisheries to determine if a bycatch problem exists and, if so, to determine its extent and nature. If a problem is identified, countries should adopt a National Plan of Action – Seabirds for reducing the incidental catch of seabirds in their fisheries. South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (SGSSI) are a United Kingdom Overseas Territory and the combined area covered by the Territorial Sea and Maritime Zone of South Georgia is referred to as the South Georgia Maritime Zone (SGMZ) and fisheries within the SGMZ are managed by the Government of South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands (GSGSSI) within the framework of the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living (CCAMLR). In March 2005, a meeting of representatives of all relevant UK Overseas Territories Governments, Non- governmental Organisations (NGOs) and other stakeholders was held in the Falkland Islands to discuss the responsibilities and obligations of Parties to the Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels (ACAP), and to identify priorities for the management and conservation of albatrosses and petrels in South Atlantic Overseas Territories. Recognising the seriousness of the impact of seabird bycatch in the Southern Ocean, one of the chief recommendations of this meeting (categorised as ‘high priority’ for action) was the need to carry out an IPOA-Seabirds assessment of the seabird bycatch associated with the Patagonian toothfish Dissostichus eleginoide s, mackerel icefish Champsocephalus gunnari and Antarctic krill Euphausia superba fisheries around SGSSI in order to inform the Government of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (GSGSSI) whether a NPOA-Seabirds for the area is required. Mortality associated with trawl fisheries is less well documented but is an increasingly recognized problem and may be a major cause of decline for some seabird populations. To address the intention of the IPOA-Seabirds, which is to reduce seabird bycatch, this document represents an assessment of the three fisheries operating in the SGMZ (longline and trawl). These waters are particularly important for albatrosses and petrels with colonies occurring at approximately 50 locations on both mainland South Georgia and offshore islands. Four species of albatross breed on South Georgia - Wandering, Black-browed, Grey-headed and Light-mantled sooty albatross – and the populations of all four species are of international importance. In addition, there are many globally important petrel breeding populations on the islands. South Georgia currently has arguably the most rapidly declining albatross populations in the world. Although IPOA-Seabirds provides guidelines for the preparation of an assessment, it does not specify the criteria for assessing what constitutes a bycatch ‘problem’ and therefore whether a state should develop a NPOA-Seabirds. To date, different approaches have been taken to conducting assessments and developing plans. The approach taken here follows that adopted by the NPOA-Seabirds for the Falkland Islands – that a NPOA-Seabirds is required if there is evidence that fisheries operating within the SGMZ are potentially causing an impact at the populations level to seabird breeding populations, either in the SGMZ or further afield. Patagonian toothfish longline fishery The South Georgia toothfish fishery was certified by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) as an internationally recognised sustainable fishery in March 2004, and was the first Antarctic fishery and the only Patagonian toothfish fishery to receive MSC certification. Although historically the seabird bycatch rates in the toothfish longline fishery around South Georgia were high, bycatch in the toothfish longline fishery has now been reduced to zero. This has been achieved largely through a range of management steps, particularly CCAMLR Conservation Measures. These include, but are not limited to: • a suite of highly prescriptive and mandatory mitigation measures that have been implemented and strengthened (where appropriate) by the GSGSSI, coupled with the willingness of shore-based industry crews to cooperate with scientific observers and researchers to refine and improve the suite of mitigation measures adopted. This includes a closed fishing season for eight months of year, which coincides with the breeding season for South Georgia albatrosses and petrels. The following measures are also applicable to the icefish and krill trawl fisheries; • an International Scientific Observer Scheme in which scientific observers from one CCAMLR Member State are placed on vessels of another to monitor catch composition and the interaction of fishing gear with birds and marine mammals. • a dedicated Fishery patrol vessel (FPV) which patrols the SGMZ throughout the year to ensure compliance with Conservation measures and to deter Illegal, Unregulated and Unreported (IUU) fishing The level of seabird bycatch (birds caught per 1,000 hooks) has declined dramatically in this fishery over the last 15 years from an estimated peak of 5,755 birds (at 0.23 birds/1,000 hooks in 1996) to zero birds in 2006. The SGSSI and CCAMLR experience demonstrates that seabird mortality can be reduced to negligible levels in large-scale regulated longline fisheries, and sustainable toothfish fishery policies and practices developed and implemented in Subarea 48.3 offers a model of best practice in bycatch assessment, and development and implementation of mitigation and enforcement of measures, using an adaptive management approach, and one that could have wide application to other fisheries and administrations. On the basis of our findings, there is no evidence to suggest that the South Georgia toothfish fishery has a seabird bycatch problem, and therefore there is currently no need to develop a NPOA-Seabirds for this fishery. However, recommendations are made that would improve the management of the fishery to ensure seabird mortality is maintained as close to zero as possible, eradicate residual haul bycatch and help reduce the incidence of hook ingestion. Mackerel Icefish trawl fishery Although mitigation measures to reduce seabird net entanglements are less well developed than many measure for demersal longline fisheries, this fishery has pioneered measures, such as net binding which is proving a very effective measure for reducing mortalities on the shot. As a result of this, and other measures such as cleaning of nets before setting, prohibiting offal discharge during shooting and hauling, coupled with a vessel specific 20 seabird bycatch threshold have resulted in seabird bycatch rates in this fishery declining from 0.26 birds per trawl in 2001 to 0.07 in 2006. While in recent years there was undoubtedly a bycatch problem in this fishery, in the last two years particularly, the level of bycatch has been greatly reduced and work is required to reduce bycatch further, particularly to identify measures to reduce bycatch on the haul. There is currently no need to develop a NPOA-Seabirds for this fishery. However, annual bycatch rates should be monitored closely and if bycatch rates increase markedly further consideration should be given to drafting a Plan of Action. However, recommendations are made that would potentially reduce the remaining seabird bycatch level to negligible levels, and would help export ‘best practice’ to other parts of the Convention area. This includes a recommendation for the GSGSSI to commission work to investigate potential mitigation measures targeted specifically at the haul. Krill trawl fishery There have been no reported seabird mortalities in this fishery in the last six years. Seabird bycatch mortality does not appear to be a problem in the krill trawl fishery operating in Subarea 48.3, as there have been no reported deaths of birds in the last six years, nor is significant incidental mortality reported in other krill trawl fisheries in other parts of the Convention Area. Consequently, there seems no justification for a NPOA-Seabirds for the krill fishery in Subarea 48.3 at the present time. However, there has been a low level of coverage by scientific observers on krill vessels, so there may be a low incidence of interactions and/or mortality that is not being reported. It is recommended that overall observer coverage effort be increased for adequate and representative sampling across the fleet. 4 Table of Contents 1. Introduction 7 1.1 Purpose and scope of assessment 7 1.2 Territory of the SGSSI
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