AMBiMK ANTARCTICA Antarctic Vol. 13 No. 8 Issue No. 151 Contents December 1994 International CCAMLA 322 Cape Roberts Project 323 ANTARCTIC is published Sovereign claims 344 quarterly by the New Zealand National Antarctic Society Inc., 1979 ISSN 0003-5327 New Zealand 324 Australia 327 Editor: Robin Ormerod Italy 331 Assistant Editor: Alison Welch Japan 330 Please address all editorial Sweden 335 inquiries, contributions etc to the: United States 332 Editor, P.O. Box 2110, Wellington N.Z. Sub Antarctic Telephone: (04) 4791.226 International: + 64 4 + 4791.226 Inaccessible Island 345 Fax: (04) 4791.185 General Grant 345 International: + 64 4 + 4791.185 General All NZ administrative enquiries should go to the: First on the Antarctic National Secretary, P O. Box Continent? 346 404, Christchurch The stamp from Vanda 348 All overseas administrative Antarctic currency? 351 enquiries should go to the: Arctic flights for record Overseas Secretary, P.O. Box books?352 2110, Wellington, NZ Inquiries regarding back issues of Cover Antarctic to P.O. Box 16385, Vanda - the old station removed in Christchurch December and the new smaller ver sion established on the other side of the lake (C) No part of this publication may be produced in any way without the prior permis sion of the publishers. Photo: Tim Higham November 1994 ANTARCTIC December 1994 Vol.13 No. 8 INTERNATIONAL: CCAMLA International agreement on problem of seabird deaths caused by longline fishing More than 20 countries were repre tional organisations with interests in the sented at the thirteenth meeting of the waters next to the Convention area, to Commission for the Conservation of determine the status of the Antarctic Antarctic Marine Living Resources seabird population and to formulate con (CCAMLR). The meeting, held in Ho servation measures. bart from 26 October to 4 November Data provided by New Zealand from 1994, also attracted observers from Japanese tuna fishing in New Zealand several acceding states and from inter waters showed a large reduction in catch national organisations. rates of seabirds achieved by setting It was chaired by Dr Dietrich Ham longlines at night and by using streamer mer, head of the delegation of the Com lines to scare birds. mission of the European Communities. The commission observed that while The scientific committee was led by Dr these mitigating factors were desirable, Karl-Hermann Kock, of the Institut fur it would only be through fundamental Seefisherei in Hamburg. modifications to longline fishing tech CCAMLR was able to study the first niques that a lasting solution to the adequate sets of quantitative data on problem would be found. incidental mortality of seabirds in The Australian delegation an longline fisheries and the first evidence nounced that the Australian Antarctic of any kind involving cetaceans (orca Foundation would give $A20,000 to and sperm whales). The data had been provide publicity material on the subject collected by scientific observers placed to longline fishers. on all longline vessels during the 1993- The Commission accepted the ad 94 seasonbecause of growing interna vice of the scientific committee that two tional concern over the incidence of scientific observers should be present seabird mortality. on each fishing vessel to collect reliable The meeting recognised that much data. of the seabird mortality related to birds Longline fisheries are now required which breed within the Convention area to set and haul lines only at night, and but were killed in fisheries outside of it. the commission agreed fishing should Albatrosses and white-chinned petrels be delayed until autumn/winter when were particularly at risk from longline birds are less active and there is more fishing. darkness. CCAMLR decided to initiate ex Reports of incidental mortality of changes with the appropriate fisheries marine mammals and seabirds in trawl management authorities and interna fisheries in the Convention area were 322 Vol.13 No. 8 December 1994 ANTARCTIC made at the meeting. Japan reports Zealand representative on the scientific that two penguins, two unidentified committee and Barry Weeber was an seabirds and two Antarctic fur seals had advisor. been caught in krill nets around the South Shetlands and South Georgia. Krill catches came under scrutiny. Cape Roberts Problems in the former USSR continue to contribute to a big decline in krill Containerised project harvesting. The total krill tonnage for the 1993-94 season was 83,818 base completed tonnes, compared with 88,776 tonnes for the previous season and 288,456 A mini base, recently completed in tonnes for the 1991-92 season. Christchurch will serve the Cape Roberts Japan was the largest krill harvester Project which is the biggest and most at 62,322 tonnes. ambitious science project ever coordi CCAMLR heard that the fishing nated by the New Zealand Antarctic plans of Japan, Chile and the Ukraine Programme. It is a five nation, eight for the 1994-95 season are similar to million dollar drilling venture involving that of the 1993-94 season. capital and scientists from New Zea The scientific committee asked for land, USA, Italy, Britain and Germany. further study on the issue of bycatch of They plan to obtain cores that record young fish in krill swarms. It also pre Antarctic tectonic and climate history sented CCAMLR with a new model to from around 30 to 100 million or more determine a precautionary catch limit years ago by coring 1500 metres of for krill. strata lying close to the sea floor off the The problem of rubbish was aired Victoria Land Coast, at Cape Roberts with the commission noting that marine where they have been tilted up by the debris remains a matter for concern. rising Transantarctic Mountains and Surveys indicate that a high number of exposed by erosion. young and female seals have been caught Seven refrigerated shipping contain up in debris. It noted the increase in ers have been fitted to provide support the number of and variety of environ facilities for 35 drillers and scientists mental threats facing Southern Ocean expected to be involved in the project. wildlife. All member states were urged They house generators for electricity to participate in beach debris surveys. and heating, a water desalination plant, New Zealand's representative was a workshop, ablutions and kitchen fa Dr Stuart Prior of the Antarctic Policy cilities. The base was designed by Works Unit at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Consultancy Services and constructed and Trade (MFAT). The alternative by Dawn Construction Group in delegate was Dr Don Robertson of the Christchurch. Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries. Ms Gillian Wratt, the director of the The New Zealand advisers were Louise New Zealand Antarctic Programme, of Sparrer, of the Antarctic Policy Unit at ficially opened the containerised base in MFAT; Andrew Jenks of MFAT's legal a ceremony attended by officials of the division and Barry Weeber of the Royal United States and Italian Antarctic pro Forest and Bird Protection Society rep grammes. It was held at Dawn Con resenting non governmental organisa struction Ltd, Orbell Street, Sydenham tions. in Christchurch at 5 p.m. on Wednes Dr Don Robertson was the New day 21 December, 1994. In her speech 323 ANTARCTIC December 1994 Vol.13 No. 8 she said that "Understanding the pat Parliament on November 23. The con tern of growth and retreat of ice sheets tainers will be shipped from Lyttelton to in Antarctica can tell us much about the Cape Roberts on the Italian vessel Italica fragility of this planet." Ms Wratt de in January. The first stage of the drill scribed the project as a model for the ing is currently scheduled for October strict environmental standards de to December 1996. {See Antarctic Vol manded by the new Antarctica Protec 13 No. 7 September 1994, tion Act, passed by the New Zealand pages278ff). New Zealand Alexander Island: New Zealand once removed Over the summer, Dr John Bradshaw were deposited over a period of more of the Department of Geology at Can than 150 million years and reflect a terbury University, will use part of his correspondingly long period of vigor study leave to visit Alexander Island, on ous uplift and erosion of mountainous the Antarctic Peninsula to try to solve sources (by way of comparison the uplift two outstanding problems in New Zea of the present Southern Alps started land geology. less than 10 million years ago and much The hard grey sandstones (Torlesse of the uplift has been in the last five rocks) familiar to anyone who has walked million years.) It seems pretty clear that around Arthur's Pass in Canterbury or the original pile of sediments was de has mixed a batch of concrete, are a posited on oceanic crust and then de geological enigma. Not only do rocks of formed and thickened by compression this type form the Alps, but they also to give it its present continental thick extend northward across Cook Strait ness and character. through the eastern North Island as far Two problems are outstanding. The as East Cape. East of Christchurch they Torlesse rocks appear to continue un extend without significant change to the changed beyond the Chatham Islands to Forty Fours, a small group of rocky the edge of the New Zealand continent islets beyond the Chatham Islands. where they appear to have been cut off. Research in the Department some years Where do they continue? Comparison ago showed that they extend to a depth with older rock units in New Zealand of at least 25 km below Mt. Somers and shows that nothing in the present con there is good reason to believe that they tinent could possibly have been the form the full thickness of the continen source for the Torlesse rocks, so where tal crust (30-35km) in the eastern third do they come from? The source has yet of the New Zealand continent - millions to be identified but in an attempt to of cubic kilometres of rock.