Protecting Antarctica's Ross Sea
OVERVIEW
GRANT AWARDED: February 2010. In 1996, a new fishery targeting the Antarctic toothfish began in the Ross Sea. Preliminary data indicates that the toothfish population may have undergone a dramatic decline in recent years, potentially triggering implications for the entire food web. This project evaluates the population status of the Antarctic toothfish in the Ross Sea, provides guidance on future monitoring of toothfish abundance and offers management recommendations to maintain a sustainable ecosystem.
Summary and Materials
The Ross Sea is the most untouched stretch of ocean on the planet. This publication summarizes a study of the seasonal movements of the Ross Sea’s diverse predators. The study concludes that an MPA will need to cover the entire sea if it is to protect these predators and their ecosystem.
2011 Study finds only large MPA would protect Ross Sea predators (Download PDF)
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July, 2012
A predator fish known as the “shark of the Antarctic” appears to be in a decline correlated to commercial fishing, according to three recent peer-reviewed publications. The authors argue that fishing could disrupt the entire Ross Sea food web because it targets large Antarctic toothfish, sold in the U.S. as Chilean sea bass.They call for increased monitoring and for a marine protected area (MPA) to protect large toothfi sh and the broader ecosystem.
Fishing threatens 'shark of the Antarctic,' say three studies from 2012 (Download PDF)
Download summary in Chinese
Download summary in Korean
August, 2012
Publications and Reports:
Reports
This workshop was held to further the establishment and development of a management and monitoring plan for a Ross Sea marine protected area (MPA) by identifying the research and monitoring needed to resolve uncertainties concerning the effects of the toothfish fishery and climate change on key components of the Ross Sea ecosystem.
Download PDF of workshop report
September, 2012
This study, published in Fish and Fisheries, analyzes a dataset spanning 39 years of near-annual fishing for Antarctic toothfish in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica.
Ainley, D. G., Nur, N., Eastman, J. T., Ballard, G., Parkinson, C. L., Evans, C. W. and DeVries, A. L. (2012), Decadal trends in abundance, size and condition of Antarctic toothfish in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica, 1972–2011. Fish and Fisheries. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-2979.2012.00474.x
Ballard, G., D. Jongsomjit, S. D. Veloz, and D. G. Ainley. 2011. Coexistence of mesopredators in an intact polar ocean ecosystem: The basis for defining a Ross Sea marine protected area. Biol. Conserv., doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2011.11.017
Coexistence of mesopredators in an intact polar ocean ecosystem: The basis for defining a Ross Sea marine protected area
January, 2012
Unnatural Selection of Antarctic Toothfish in the Ross Sea, Antarctica
Trophic Interactions and Population Trends of Killer Whales (Orcinus orca) in the Southern Ross Sea
Media:
Other Links
Penguins and ecosystem change YouTube channel
Video and Images:
Recent Work
