REVIEW OF CCAMLR ACTIVITIES ON MONITORING MARINE DEBRIS IN THE CONVENTION AREA

CCAMLR Members monitor beached debris, entanglement of marine mammals, marine debris associated with seabird colonies and animals contaminated with hydrocarbons at a number of sites, primarily in Area 48. Overall non-fishing debris items (mostly packaging items) have made up the majority of debris reported from monitoring sites. Relatively large amounts of fishing items have been reported at Bird Island, South Georgia over the last 13 years, but only small amounts from the other sites. Since 1991, data on entanglements of Antarctic fur seals has been received from 3 Members for 4 different sites, however only two of these sites have reported data for consecutive seasons. The most common entangling materials were plastic packaging bands, synthetic string/longline and fishing nets. The Wandering albatross has more debris reported from its colonies than any other species monitored at Bird Island with the majority of debris items being fishing lines and hooks. A total of 49 cases of hydrocarbon soiling for 8 species of seabirds have been reported to the Secretariat. The Wandering albatross is the most frequently recorded and the most common type of soiling agent was oil. Plastic packaging bands have been found regularly at sites monitored for beach debris and entangled on fur seals, despite their prohibition (for securing bait boxes) or restricted use (other plastic packaging bands) in Conservation Measure 26-01. There is no evidence of a decrease in the occurrence of marine debris over the past 10 years at any of the sites monitored. Although the amount of beached marine debris reported from Bird Island and Signy Island, South Orkney in the last decade has decreased from the numbers reported in the mid-nineties. The Secretariat encourages all Members who collect marine debris information to submit it for inclusion in the CCAMLR Marine Debris database.