changes in krill biomass and the types of catch, effort, and 

 related data that would be required to make the necessary 

 determinations . 



Observation and Inspection : Article XIV of the Convention 

 on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources 

 calls for establishment of an observation and inspection 

 system to insure compliance with provisions of the Convention. 

 During the 1987 meeting of the Commission, a standing committee 

 was constituted to help develop and oversee implementation of 

 the system. This Committee met during the 1988 meeting of 

 the Commission and formulated a system of observation and 

 inspection provisions which subsequently were adopted by the 

 Commission. Among other things, the system provides that: 

 each member of the Commission may designate persons to carry 

 out observation and inspection activities on board vessels 

 engaged in scientific research or harvesting of marine living 

 resources in the Convention Area; each Contracting Party 

 shall provide to the Commission by 1 May each year a list of 

 all of its flag vessels intending to harvest marine living 

 resources in the Convention Area during the year beginning 

 1 July; designated observers and inspectors shall be entitled 

 to board vessels engaged in research or harvesting of marine 

 living resources in the Convention Area to carry out their 

 functions; detailed reports on observation and inspection 

 activities shall be prepared and provided to the designating 

 member, which shall in turn report to the Commission; and, if 

 there is evidence of violations of the provisions of the 

 Convention or measures adopted by the Commission, the flag 

 state shall take steps to prosecute and, if necessary, impose 

 sanctions. 



Before the system can be implemented, a number of technical 

 and administrative details must be worked out. These include 

 such things as the development of an agreed check list for 

 use by observers and inspectors and an agreed format for 

 reporting the results of observations and inspections. These 

 matters will be addressed at the 1989 meeting of the Commission 

 and, if agreement can be reached, the observation and inspection 

 system could be implemented as early as the 1989-1990 fishing 

 season. 



Assessment and Avoidance of Incidental MorLality ; Seals, 

 whales, birds, and other marine organisms may be caught inciden- 

 tally during fishing operations, may be caught and killed in 

 lost and discarded fishing gear, or may die as a result of 

 ingesting plastic bags and other debris discarded in the 

 Convention Area (see Chapter VI of this Report for more detailed 

 discussions of these problems) . The Commission for the Conser- 

 vation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources has recognized 

 this and has adopted a number of measures to try to insure 

 that accidental and incidental mortality of marine living 



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