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This paper is presented for consideration by CCAMLR and may contain unpublished data, analyses, and/or conclusions subject to change. Data in this paper shall not be cited or used for purposes other than the work of the CAMLR Commission, Scientific Committee or their subsidiary bodies without the permission of the originators and/or owners of the data.

Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living ResourcesCommission pour la conservation de la faune et la flore marines de l’Antarctique

Комиссия по cохранению морских живых pесурсов АнтарктикиComisión para la Conservación de los Recursos Vivos Marinos Antárticos

CCAMLR-XXXVI/BG/29

16 September 2017

Original: English

Collaborating to support effective protection of Southern Oceanecosystems

Submitted by ASOC and COLTO

Collaborating to Support Effective Protection of Southern Ocean Ecosystems

Submitted by ASOC and COLTO

Abstract

In this paper, COLTO and ASOC highlight important enforcement and compliance actions undertaken since CCAMLR XXXV and recommend further steps that CCAMLR can take to demonstrate leadership in compliance and enforcement as well as in environmental protection, including additional regulations for transhipments in the Convention Area; tightening legal loopholes for those involved in IUU fishing; implementing a system of satellite monitoring; supporting collaborations between industry and science; contributing to Interpol’s Project Scale; and considering ways to reduce the emissions produced by CCAMLR meetings. Background The global fight against IUU fishing is extremely important for the protection of marine ecosystems, and CCAMLR has long served as an example for other bodies involved in fisheries management. COLTO and ASOC are proud to support CCAMLR’s contributions to ending IUU fishing. Below we summarize important compliance and enforcement developments related to the Southern Ocean over the previous year, as well as make recommendations for actions to strengthen CCAMLR’s management of activities in the Convention Area and implementation of conservation objectives.

Important enforcement and compliance actions over the past year

• Continuation of Operations Sparrow and Yuyus: Although the Spanish Supreme Court overturned the criminal convictions of several members of the Vidal Armadores company, the civil penalties of €17.84 million remain in place. Additionally, the eNGO Oceana has appealed the Supreme Court’s decision. Though the initial ruling was a setback after the groundbreaking efforts of Interpol and the Spanish government to bring known lawbreakers to justice, COLTO and ASOC thank Spain and Interpol for continuing their efforts. We hope the Oceana appeal will be successful.

• Prosecution of officers from the ‘Bandit 6’: Indonesian authorities fined the captain and chief engineer of the Viking two billion Indonesian rupiahs (about €62,000). They could not pay the fine and were instead ordered to serve four month jail sentences. The captain of the Kunlun was charged by Thai authorities for falsely reporting a catch of grouper (actually illegal Antarctic toothfish) and for false reporting of the Kunlun’s flag and registration. However, the vessel escaped prior to the completion of the case. Sao Tome and Principe authorities convicted the captain (from Chile), chief engineer and second engineer (both Spanish) of forgery, pollution, damage to the environment and recklessness for their involvement in the deliberate sinking of the Thunder. Fines of €15 million were imposed for the pollution and environmental damage, and sentences of 32-36 months in jail were given for the recklessness and forgery charges.

• Remaining IUU vessels: There were sightings of two IUU fishing vessels suspected of targeting Antarctic toothfish in 2017. The Cape Flower (IMO 7330399), flagged to Bolivia, landed approximately 100 tonnes of toothfish in the Ecuadorian port of Manta in April, and the Dolgov/Seabreeze was sighted in FAO Area 57. ASOC and COLTO urge CCAMLR Members to continue to collaborate to eliminate the last vestiges of IUU fishing for toothfish from the Southern Ocean, which has decreased 99% from peak levels.

• Implementation of the new Catch Documentation Scheme (CDS): The development and launch of the new e-CDS in March 2017 was an important step in modernizing and improving this key aspect of CCAMLR’s compliance regime. Thus far, COLTO members report that the system is easy to use and an improvement upon the previous version. ASOC and COLTO hope that it will serve as an increased deterrent to illegal catches entering the market.

• Illegal Fishing? Evidence and Analysis1: This publication from Fish-i Africa documents twenty IUU fishing cases from West Africa and identifies enforcement successes, including a case study related to two vessels known to have fished illegally in the Convention Area. The report also recommends policy changes that will make it harder for IUU vessels to continue operations. As many IUU fishing vessels use African ports to offload their catch, implementing these policy changes is of relevance to CCAMLR’s work.

Next steps in compliance and enforcement: how CCAMLR can continue to demonstrate global leadership

Regulating transhipments in the Convention Area

Last year, Australia and the United States proposed to strengthen CM 10-09 by adding requirements for transhipments in the Convention Area. ASOC and COLTO supported this proposal, but unfortunately, it was not agreed by CCAMLR. ASOC and COLTO continue to support efforts to ensure that transhipments are properly monitored.

Transhipment at sea, particularly on the high seas, continues to provide opportunities to launder illegal catches into legitimate supply chains. This not only facilitates IUU activity, but also contributes to overfishing by allowing for greater fishing effort. Although IUU fishing within the CCAMLR Area is at historically low levels, CCAMLR should consider options for strengthening their current transhipment regulation so that it provides further transparency and ensures the activity is legitimate. This will make it extremely difficult for IUU fishers to tranship their catch at sea. CCAMLR’s efforts to reform the practice of transhipping to reduce, or possibly even remove, the risk that it facilitates illegal activity could be seen as an example for others to follow.

Tightening legal loopholes for those involved in IUU fishing

As the decision of the Spanish Supreme Court highlighted, prosecution of individuals who participate in IUU fishing is often difficult due to legal loopholes concerning activities that have taken place in areas beyond national jurisdiction. We suggest that CCAMLR Members with legislation that explicitly allows for prosecution of nationals found to be engaging in IUU fishing provide a paper at next year’s meeting that summarizes key points of their domestic laws, for both civil/administrative and criminal law prosecutions. Examples from the United States would be the ability to prosecute administrative law cases under the Magnuson-Stevens Act, and the ability to prosecute criminal cases under the Lacey Act. A similar exercise is done at the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting to provide support and advice to those seeking to ratify Annex VI of the Environment Protocol domestically. In addition, ASOC and COLTO recommend that CCAMLR (or CCAMLR Members) seek a standing declaration from all flag states with fishing vessels on any CCAMLR IUU vessel list, that no other fishing vessels flagged to that state are licensed to operate within the CCAMLR Area. This would allow any fishing vessels flagged to those states and found fishing in the Convention Area to be considered ‘stateless’ and subject to immediate apprehension. Such a prior standing arrangement could have allowed authorities to apprehend both the Cape Flower and the Sea Breeze during recent sightings. The performance review panel has made a similar recommendation (CCAMLR-XXXVI/01). Finally, we recommend a Resolution (or report language) urging all parties to the CAMLR Convention, as well as states with ‘cooperating non-party’ status, to become party to, and fully implement, the FAO Port State Measures Agreement. Among other things, this would oblige all such states to subject visiting foreign fishing vessels to a more thorough inspection regime.

1 https://www.fish-i-africa.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Illegal-Fishing-Evidence-and-Analysis-WEB.pdf

Implementing a system of satellite monitoring

Satellite technology continues to improve and become more affordable, and the use of satellite data and imagery for global fisheries monitoring and enforcement is expanding. The Pew Charitable Trusts, an ASOC member organization, has funded Project Eyes on the Seas where satellite and other data sources are combined to help officials and retailers remotely assess compliance performance of fishing vessels remotely. ASOC member organization WWF has also retraced the routes and activities of fishing vessels through existing satellite data to reveal where illegal fishing activity may be taking place using AIS (Automatic Identification System) data. The CCAMLR Secretariat has presented a proposal (CCAMLR-XXXVI/08) to this meeting on options for future satellite usage, which could enhance the effectiveness of CCAMLR’s monitoring and compliance regime.

ASOC and COLTO strongly support this development and encourage CCAMLR to approve the Secretariat’s proposal and initiate the project.

Supporting collaboration between industry and science

New technology can also enable more effective collection of data on fishing and fishery interactions with the ecosystem. Recently, CCAMLR Members have been trialing various technologies on fishing vessels. WG-SAM-16/34 describes a pilot project undertaken in the 2015/16 season by an Australian fishing vessel to collect data via benthic video cameras and environmental data loggers in area 58.4.1. This data collection process was expanded this season to include all 5 Australian vessels operating in the CCAMLR area.

The benthic cameras can be used at depths down to 3,000 metres to obtain footage of the seafloor, the interaction of the fishing gear with the target and bycatch species, and benthos. The environmental data loggers (CTDs) are attached to the fishing gear and collect information on conductivity, temperature and depth, and aim to build a long term dataset that may be useful to help describe changes in ecosystems over time. The results of an electronic monitoring camera system in the toothfish fishery in Subarea 48.3 were also presented to WG-FSA in 2016.

COLTO Members are also participating in a multi-fishery whale depredation project, which has funding committed until at least 2020. COLTO Members are working with CCAMLR and non-CCAMLR scientists to develop tools to measure the quantities of toothfish being taken by toothed whales, and also develop and test new methods to mitigate against depredation.

These research projects and data collection methods that are being undertaken on fishing vessels in the CCAMLR Area will provide useful information that would not otherwise be obtained, including information on toothfish behavior and interactions between the fishery and benthic communities. Video footage from the cameras could also be used to educate the public about Antarctic marine ecosystems or generate awareness about CCAMLR and its work. The CTD data may prove useful for climate change studies in Antarctic and sub-Antarctic regions.

ASOC and COLTO recommend that CCAMLR Members consider ways of expanding these programs to other fishing vessels and fisheries to increase the amount of this type of information available to science.

Ensuring the future of Project Scale

Last year, COLTO and ASOC recommended that CCAMLR make a voluntary contribution to Project Scale to support their excellent work combating IUU in the Southern Ocean, and supported the CCAMLR Secretariat’s paper proposing a voluntary contribution to Project Scale of $150,000 over three years. We continue to support such a contribution. As CCAMLR Members are aware, Project Scale was launched in 2013 with support from The Pew Charitable Trusts and Norway, to provide a platform that allows countries to exchange information on transnational fisheries crime and to provide them with direct support in criminal investigations. It was involved in the case of the Kunlun, which

resulted in the prosecution of the vessel’s owners by the Spanish government and the imposition of a fine of €17.84 million (described in this paper, above) as well as cases against the Thunder and other members of the Bandit 6. As is the case with other areas of Interpol’s environmental crime work, Project Scale relies entirely on external funding to support its operations. It is important to ensure that this project has the long-term sustainability it needs to continue to build upon the expertise and linkages already established, and continue investigations of IUU fishing networks that operate in the Southern Ocean and in other areas of the world. The proposed voluntary contribution would allow Project Scale build on this past success and help countries develop the capacity to respond to transnational IUU fishing threats.

Consideration of greenhouse gas emissions from CCAMLR meetings

COLTO Member Austral Fisheries has recently taken the step of making its operations carbon neutral through offsetting 100% of its carbon emissions. COLTO and ASOC believe that CCAMLR could consider steps to reduce its carbon footprint, such as by allowing registered delegation members to participate by video conference using a secure connection, or to investigate offsetting emissions associated with CCAMLR meetings.

Summary and conclusion ASOC and COLTO encourage CCAMLR Members to take a number of steps to continue demonstrating leadership in enforcement, compliance, environmental protection and fisheries management:

• Further regulating transhipments in the Convention Area • Tightening legal loopholes for those involved in IUU fishing • Implementing a system of satellite monitoring • Supporting collaborations between industry and science • Ensuring the future of Interpol’s Project Scale • Considering ways to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions produced by CCAMLR meetings.

The global fight against IUU fishing is extremely important for the protection of marine ecosystems, and CCAMLR has long served as an example for other bodies involved in fisheries management. COLTO and ASOC are proud to support CCAMLR’s contributions to ending IUU fishing.