Collated comments from some members of the SWG-PEL/30 in response to FISHERIES/2011/SWG-PEL/30

In January 2010 a joint meeting of the small pelagic and ecosystems approach to fisheries scientific working groups recommended the formation of a 2 task teams. The first task team, comprised of members of the pelagic SWG, industry and invited experts was to investigate further island closures or modifications to the island closure programme so that a considered recommendation could be included in advice to the Minister for the 2011 season. The second Task Team, comprised of members of the EAF SWG and invited experts, was to investigate measures relating to penguin conservation that are not related to forage fish abundance, such as seal predation, heat stress, new colony creation and a penguin recovery plan.

Progress of this task team and in particular, development and preliminary results of their “Penguin Pressure Model” were presented to the pelagic SWG on the 17th May 2011. This model is currently being developed for Robben Island as an MSc project, but expansion to other Islands is planned for the future. As time for discussion during the meeting was limited, the chair was requested to collate comments for circulation to the student and her supervisors.