Research is critical for lasting marine protection
The Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) established the Ross Sea Region Marine Protected Area, on October 2016. To continue the momentum toward creating an effective MPA network, the commission should now adopt a Ross Sea Region research and monitoring plan at its 2017 meeting, and begin implementation in January 2018, Pew charitable trusts suggests.
The 2.06-million-square-kilometer marine reserve, which covers an area larger than Mexico and includes the area under the Ross Ice Shelf, is the world’s largest marine protected area (MPA). It represents a major advancement in fulfilling CCAMLR’s commitment to create a network of marine protected areas in the Southern Ocean.
Namely, the Ross Sea Region MPA, which commences on 1 December 2017, will protect what scientists have described in the journal Biological Conservation as “the least altered marine ecosystem on earth.” It will simultaneously safeguard the foraging ranges of significant percentages of the world’s populations of Adélie and emperor penguins, Weddell and crabeater seals, and toothfish-eating killer whales. In addition, many prey species will also be protected, such as Antarctic silverfish and crystal krill.
“Multinational collaborative research and monitoring in the Ross Sea will benefit humankind by leading to discoveries such as a better understanding of the effects of a warming ocean and an improved understanding of the complex life cycle of the Antarctic toothfish,” Pew notes.
Specifically, Pew urges the commission to adopt a Ross Sea Region research and monitoring plan that
tests the effectiveness of the MPA through:
Collection of data within the MPA’s first year, to serve as a baseline for later comparisons.
Identification of a suite of indicators, which scientists can use to measure the degree of ecosystem change.
Research on how the fishing of toothfish and any potential future krill fishing affect the Ross Sea food web, especially its top predators.
Addition of no-fishing reference areas without human impacts where the effects of climate change can be studied.
2. Is implemented by all CCAMLR members, not only the MPA proponent countries. The plan should enable international collaboration and research partnerships between member countries.
3. Includes sufficient financial resources, dedicated by all CCAMLR members as well as from industry. CCAMLR could manage funding through an MPA monitoring fund.
