Chapter V — International 
fishing operations. They also may be caught and 
killed in lost and discarded fishing gear and other 
persistent debris dumped or discarded in the world’s 
oceans. 
As noted in the Marine Mammal Commission’s 
previous annual reports, the Commission for the 
Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources 
has taken a number of actions to assess and prevent or 
minimize such incidental mortality. The Living Re- 
sources Commission has, for example, developed and 
required that members provide an informational 
brochure to fishermen, researchers, and others work- 
ing in the Convention Area to ensure that they are 
aware of the sources, fates, and effects of lost and 
discarded fishing gear and other potentially hazardous 
marine debris. The Commission also has adopted 
conservation measures prohibiting the use of net 
monitor cables, which seabirds often fly into, after the 
1994-1995 fishing season. The measures also require 
that longline fishing operations be conducted using a 
streamer line to discourage birds from settling on baits 
during deployment of longlines and that operations be 
conducted in such a way that the baited hooks sink as 
quickly as possible after they are put into the water. 
Information presented during the 1992 meetings of 
the Commission and Scientific Committee for the 
Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources 
indicates that these efforts are being successful and 
should be continued. For example, the United King- 
dom reported a dramatic drop in the volume of beach 
litter recovered on Signey Island. However, potential- 
ly hazardous debris continues to be found on beaches 
throughout the Antarctic. Also, it is not clear that all 
vessels fishing in the Convention Area are accurately 
recording and reporting the incidental mortality of 
seabirds, marine mammals, and other non-target 
species. 
To get more reliable and comparable data on the 
nature and extent of the marine debris problem, the 
Commission asked the Secretariat to prepare guide- 
lines suggesting standard methods for conducting 
marine debris surveys and formats for reporting their 
results. To get more reliable information on inciden- 
tal mortality, members were urged to ensure that 
required data are collected and reported. 
141 
Observation and Inspection — Article XXIV of 
the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic 
Marine Living Resources calls upon the Contracting 
Parties to develop a system of observation and inspec- 
tion to promote the objectives and ensure observance 
of the provisions of the Convention. A system for 
carrying out at-sea inspections to ensure compliance 
with conservation measures adopted by the Commis- 
sion was concluded and became effective in 1989. 
Recognizing that size frequency and reproductive 
data, as well as data on the quantity of fish and krill 
caught, will be required to implement the Convention, 
the Commission, in 1990, requested that the Secretari- 
at prepare and distribute a paper concerning establish- 
ment of a system for placing scientific observers 
aboard fishing and research vessels. The Secretariat 
prepared the requested paper, and during its 1991 
meeting the Commission’s Standing Committee on 
Observation and Inspection developed a proposal for 
an International Scientific Observation System. As 
noted in the Marine Mammal Commission’s previous 
annual report, some members of the Living Resources 
Commission had reservations which prohibited agree- 
ment on the proposed system in 1991. 
The reservations were resolved and a Scheme of 
International Scientific Observation was adopted at the 
Commission’s 1992 meeting. The United States has 
initiated discussions with Japan and Russia to place 
scientific observers aboard their krill fishing vessels. 
Ecosystem Monitoring — The Convention for the 
Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources 
requires that fishing and related activities in the 
Convention Area be managed to prevent irreversible 
changes in the structure and dynamics of the Antarctic 
marine ecosystem, as well as to prevent overfishing 
and depletion of harvested populations. In 1984 the 
Scientific Committee for the Conservation of Antarctic 
Marine Living Resources established a working group 
to formulate and coordinate implementation of a 
multinational research program to assess and monitor 
the status of key components of the Antarctic marine 
ecosystem. Since then the working group has devel- 
oped and members have begun to implement a long- 
term program with three major components: (1) mon- 
itoring of representative land-breeding krill predators 
(e.g., Antarctic fur seals and Adelie and chinstrap 
