Protected zones in Antarctic seas could throw lifeline to penguins threatened by commercial fishing

Humans are harvesting huge quantities of krill for fish food from vital penguin feeding areas, as Harry Cockburn explains

Adélie penguins jump from the ice into the sea off Paulette Island in Antarctica (Getty)

Across the Antarctic, many vital penguin habitats remain unprotected, leaving the birds vulnerable to pollution, overfishing and the impacts of the climate crisis.

But new research suggests a network of marine protected areas (MPAs) could help to preserve some of the most important areas at sea for breeding penguins.

The study, led by BirdLife International, the University of East Anglia (UEA) and the British Antarctic Survey, found that if all the proposed MPAs were adopted and enforced, the permanent conservation of high-quality areas for the penguins would increase by between 49 and 100 per cent, depending on penguin species.

The Southern Ocean surrounding Antarctica is home to thousands of unique species, including seals, whales and four species of penguins - the adélie, chinstrap, gentoo and emperor.

Many of these feed on krill, tiny shrimp-like crustaceans, but these animals are often in direct competition with large commercial fisheries which also target krill for a variety of products including fish food.

Penguins are considered an “indicator species” with the health of populations reflecting the state of the surrounding marine environment, but without protection, numerous species could suffer further blows.

In order to identify the most important areas for penguins in Antarctica, the study used a new approach based on colony location, population estimates, and tracking data. This resulted in the researchers pinpointing 63 key sites for protection.

Known as Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBAs), they are used by at least 1 per cent of a species, global population. They represent important foraging grounds, surrounding breeding colonies of several thousands of individuals when penguins congregate to raise their chicks.

The team also examined krill fishery activities over the last 50 years and found that while its range of operation has contracted, a consistently disproportionate amount of krill is being harvested within the globally important areas for penguins compared to the total area in which the fishery operates.

The results match other studies which show krill fisheries are likely to be directly competing with penguins for crucial foraging resources in this harsh environment.

“Our findings provide critical evidence about the location and relevance of some of the most important areas globally for chick-rearing adult penguins breeding in Antarctica and nearby islands,” said lead author Dr Jonathan Handley, of Birdlife International.

“Over the past five decades, krill fisheries have concentrated into a small number of areas in Antarctic waters, some of which we identified as important penguin foraging grounds.

“This poses a likely threat for several penguin colonies, especially when they are rearing chicks.”

To control the increasing commercial interest in Antarctic fisheries and particularly krill resources, an international convention was established in 1982, governed by the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) - an international convention comprised of 25 Member states, together with the European Union.

The convention envisioned the creation of a network of MPAs around Antarctica since 2002, but since 2016 only two have been implemented.

Three more have been under discussion for several years but members have not been able to agree on their formal designation.

Dr Aldina Franco, of UEA's School of Environmental Sciences and a co-author of the new study said the work supports the adoption of the proposed MPA network.

He said: “Recent studies have shown that krill fisheries could be directly competing with penguins for critical food supplies.

“The proposed MPA network, which has recognised go/no go areas for krill fisheries, can help guarantee that enough krill is available for penguins.”

Marie-Morgane Rouyer, who jointly led the research while a Masters student at UEA, said: “Marine resources need to be managed in a sustainable way if we are to guarantee the existence of these emblematic penguin species in the future.”

The researchers identified new IBAs that are important for the conservation of Antarctic penguins and examined the overlap with existing and proposed MPAs.

They found that adélie and emperor penguins currently have 27-31 per cent of the important areas within adopted MPAs, but no gentoo penguins IBAs and only 1 per cent of chinstrap penguins are within them.

If all proposed MPAs for Antarctica are adopted then an average of 80 per cent of the important areas for penguin conservation would be within a protected zone.

The researchers said “this highlights the importance of the proposed network, which ultimately could benefit not only Antarctic penguins, but some of the most unique wildlife on Earth”.

The research is published in the journal Frontiers in Marine Science.