Activities Related to Other Livincf Resources 



In addition to recognizing the possible adverse effects 

 of unregulated seal hunting, the parties to the Antarctic 

 Treaty have recognized the potential adverse effects of the 

 developing krill fishery and other fisheries on the Antarctic 

 marine ecosystem. At the IXth Antarctic Treaty Consultative 

 Meeting held in London in 1977, the Consultative Parties 

 agreed that a special meeting should be held to elaborate a 

 regime which would provide for the effective conservation of 

 all living resources in the Antarctic marine ecosystem. 

 Negotiations were initiated in February 1978 and the 

 resulting regime — the Convention for the Conservation of 

 Antarctic Marine Living Resources — was concluded in May 

 1980 and came into force in April 1982. To implement it, the 

 Convention establishes a Commission, Scientific Committee, 

 and Secretariat, all headquartered in Hobart, Tasmania, 

 Australia. 



The Marine Mammal Commission's activities regarding the 

 negotiations and the first four meetings of the Commission 

 and Scientific Committee established by the Convention are 

 described in previous Annual Reports. 



Meetincf of the Working Group for the Ecosystem 

 Monitoring Program under the Convention for the Conservation 

 of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) — At its third 

 annual meeting, held in Hobart in September 1984, the 

 Scientific Committee for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine 

 Living Resources established an ad hoc working group to 

 formulate and recommend actions for planning, implementing, 

 and coordinating multi-national research programs necessary 

 to effectively assess and monitor key components of the 

 Antarctic marine ecosystem. This group met in Seattle, 

 Washington, in May 1985 and, following consideration of its 

 report at the September 1985 meeting of the full Scientific 

 Committee, the Scientific Committee constituted a formal 

 Working Group for the CCAMLR Ecosystem Monitoring Program. 

 The formal working group met for the first time on 2-7 July 

 1986 in Hamburg, Federal Republic of Germany. 



Representatives of the Marine Mammal Commission 

 participated in both the May 1985 and July 1986 working group 

 meetings. At its first meeting, the working group identified 

 six krill predators (crabeater and Antarctic fur seals; 

 Adelie, chinstrap, and macaroni penguins; and minke whales) 

 that might be useful indicators of the indirect or second- 

 order effects of krill harvesting. The group recommended 

 that these species be monitored at a network of sites 

 throughout Antarctica and that high priority be placed on the 

 initiation of integrated ecosystem monitoring programs in 



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