pdf SCAR KRILL Expert Group Proposal 2020

Proposal for a SCAR KRILL Expert Group

Name of the Proposed Group: To be decided

Name(s) of the lead proponent(s) Prof. Dr. Bettina Meyer, Dr. So Kawaguchi

Sponsoring Science Group(s) or Standing Committee(s): Life Sciences

Summary of SCAR Krill Action Group

Recent findings on Antarctic krill, Euphausia superba have demonstrated that, even after almost 100 years of research on this species, there remain crucial gaps in our understanding of its life history, response to climate variability, spatial dynamics, and the environmental mechanisms that drive variability of its lifecycle throughout the Southern Ocean (SO).

CCAMLR is an international organization established in response to increasing commercial interest in Antarctic krill resources, a keystone component of the Antarctic ecosystem and a history of over-exploitation of several other marine resources in the Southern Ocean. CCAMLR had a working group focusing solely on krill in its early years but there is no longer a working group within CCAMLR that solely considers krill biology and ecology. The CCAMLR Scientific Committee has emphasised the need for a mechanism to better incorporate the relevant science being done on krill into CCAMLR. Thus a SCAR Krill Action Group (SKAG) was initiated in 2018 to become a prime conduit between CCAMLR and the wider krill science community. SKAG provides a forum to guide research directions, promote collaboration, improve understanding of krill biology and ecology, and through the SCAR Standing Committee on the Antarctic Treaty System, will assist in providing critical scientific information relevant to krill fishery management. Furthermore, the group will provide a forum for an information exchange on upcoming cruises and funding opportunities, as well as lab facilities for experimental krill work, and will serve as a platform for the development of future international collaborative research proposals and programs.

SKAG has a close interaction with, and provides input to, the existing SCAR group Integrating Climate and Ecosystem Dynamics in the Southern Ocean - ICED. In addition, because krill are so central to the SO ecosystem, knowledge about krill is essential to answering many of the fundamental questions of groups such as the Expert Group on Birds and Marine Mammals – EGBAMM and the Southern Ocean Continuous Plankton Recorder - SO-CPR.