Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems

The term Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems (VMEs) describes specific ecosystems or habitats, often associated with the seabed, that may be vulnerable to fishing or other man-made activities. They are vulnerable not just because of the likelihood of being impacted, but because they recover very slowly from disturbance, are rare, fragile, structurally complex or critically important to ecosystem functioning. CCAMLR defines the term to include seamounts, hydrothermal vents, cold water coral and sponge fields. 

In order to protect ecosystems, species and habitats associated with the seabed, CCAMLR has prohibited bottom trawling and the use of gillnets in all high sea areas within the Convention Area. For longlines and pots, bottom fishing is prohibited in water shallower than 550 m around the entire Antarctic continent, roughly the depth of the Antarctic continental shelf, in order to protect shelf-based benthic systems. 

Even where these fisheries are allowed, specific protection is provided to VMEs. Conservation Measures 22-06 and 22-07, first adopted in 2007 and 2008 respectively, require preliminary assessment of the impact of planned activities on vulnerable marine ecosystems (VMEs), provide mechanisms to catalogue VMEs identified through scientific research or through encounters with fishing gear, and prohibit fishing on VMEs or in areas where there is a high risk that VMEs exist. 

The measures taken by CCAMLR follow international best practice, for instance the  United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) resolutions on VMEs and FAO Guidelines on the management of deep sea fisheries in the high seas. 

Fishing gear such as longlines and pots are not designed to sample benthic organisms, however, the incidental catch of VME-indicator taxa does provide information on the distribution of VMEs. CCAMLR’s approach has therefore been to balance the acquisition of information on VMEs with the need to implement precautionary measures aimed at avoiding significant adverse impacts to VMEs.

The procedures to be followed by vessels to monitor and report encounters with potential VMEs during the course of bottom fishing are described in CM 22-07. These require fishing vessels to collect and report all catches of a suite of “VME-indicator taxa” that are described in CCAMLR’s VME Taxa Classification Guide. These data are reported at a high spatial resolution for every segment of a longline (approximately 1 km). If a threshold amount of VME indicator taxa is encountered on a line segment, a VME risk area is declared within 1 nautical mile of the mid-point of the line segment and fishing ceases immediately in this area until the area is evaluated by the Scientific Committee. 

VME risk areas and VMEs identified through research activities are recorded and publicly available in the CCAMLR VME Registry. In 2024, more than 60 VMEs had been identified through research activities and more than 80 VME risk areas have been identified through fishing activities, and all of these areas are closed to fishing.