The Antarctic krill fishery is expanding at a time when the Antarctic Peninsula is experiencing significant climate change impacts. Climate change and ocean acidification may dramatically impact marine ecosystems and will almost certainly affect krill. It is therefore CCAMLR’s responsibility to enhance its precautionary management of the krill fishery in line with Convention objectives. This paper provides an update on the krill fishery; discusses the consideration of climate change in krill fisheries management; and addresses key aspects of krill research, ecosystem-based management, monitoring, bycatch, and compliance as they relate to the krill fishery. The paper concludes with a number of recommendations to make progress on each of these issues. Specifically, ASOC recommends that CCAMLR:
- Incorporate climate change information into fishery management.
- Obtain an up to date krill biomass estimate.
- Agree to a detailed work plan and timeline to further develop ecosystem-based management measures for the fishery.
- Review the CCAMLR Ecosystem Monitoring Program (CEMP) to better reflect the whole ecosystem.
- Develop standards for improving identification of bycatch and for minimizing bycatch.
- Develop an accurate and consistent method for reporting catches with increased precision at two-hour intervals.