Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Jacqui started work on her PhD with the ACE CRC through the Institute of Antarctic and Southern Ocean Studies in August 2005. Her project title is Development and Management of the Southern Ocean Krill Fishery and she is supervised by Marcus Haward (School of Government/IASOS), Julia Jabour (IASOS), Steve Nicol (AAD) and So Kawaguchi (AAD).

The Commission for the Conservation of Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) was established in 1982 in response to an increase in the krill catch in the Southern Ocean. CCAMLR's focus has shifted dramatically over the past 23 years, with krill being excluded from a number of recently instituted general management measures. CCAMLR's recent focus has mainly concerned finfish fisheries, with very little attention devoted to the krill fishery that it was initially established to manage. There are no mandatory observers on board krill fishing vessels, no subdivision of catch limits, no catch documentation and very little information collected regarding trends in the fishery. This shift in focus is of increasing concern amongst scientists as interest in, and the yield of, the krill fishery in the Southern Ocean begins to increase.

This project will examine CCAMLR's attitude to the krill fishery over the past 23 years through analyses of the reports of CCAMLR meetings and the reports from the Scientific Committee and its associated Working Groups. It will also research the current state of the krill fishery by examining the economics, new fishing technologies, catch sizes, past and current trends in participation in the fishery and its commercial importance. The research will utilise CCAMLR background documents and analyses, published resources as well as patent databases, information from active fishery operators and economic analyses by prospective entrants into the fishery. This type of research has been requested numerous times by CCAMLR and the provision of this information will assist the sustainable management of the fishery, which is key to the conservation of the Southern Ocean and Antarctic marine environment.

For more information:

Email: jkfoster@utas.edu.au

Phone: +61 3 6226 1845