A place in the South Atlantic sun
Protecting the shallow water marine environment in the
Falklands
Each year, more than 50,000 tourists visit the
Falklands Islands (one of the UK’s most remote Overseas
Territories) to see some of its spectacular wildlife – emperor
penguins, rockhoppers, wandering albatrosses, elephant seals and
southern sea lions, as well as a wide range of cetaceans, including
killer whale, can all be viewed from the land.
However, for the
Falklands, an archipelago in the south-west region of the South
Atlantic Ocean, some 480 km from the coast of Argentina, tourism is
only the second largest source of income. The greatest provider is
the fisheries sector, specifically the sale of offshore fisheries
licences, three-quarters of which are sold for squid fisheries. To
date, no exploitation of inshore fisheries has taken place and
hence the shallow marine environment remains in a pristine
condition.
A little-known habitat
Nevertheless, staff of the Falklands Fisheries
Department (FFD) recognise that little is known about this delicate
and vulnerable habitat and are conscious of the potential effects
of future inshore fisheries. As a result, in 2006, the FFD (which
is based in Stanley, the Falklands capital, and whose research
division provides expert scientific knowledge and advice to make
the decisions essential for conservation, sustainable management
and development of the Falkland Islands’ fisheries resources)
established the Shallow Marine Survey Group (SMSG). The core group
is made up of FFD staff working in their spare time. It
co-ordinates and conducts assessments of the status of inshore
resources around the Falkland Islands. The scope of the work
includes the splash zone, inter-tidal and subtidal environments on
sandy, pebble and rock beaches of Falkland Islands’ shores.
First recruit
The Falklands has coastline of approximately
1,300 km, representing a substantial amount of survey work for
SMSG. The Group has now recruited its first full-time member of
staff, Karen Neely, who is responsible for the co-ordination of all
the inter-tidal and subtidal surveys, and promotes the Group’s
work. This one-year appointment was made possible through Falklands
Conservation and SMSG personnel Overseas Territories Environment
Programme (OTEP) funds.
Currently, Karen is developing a survey
programme specific to the Falklands marine environment, including
establishing an inventory of all the marine species and habitats to
help identify areas that would most benefit from management and
protection. The survey techniques employed in the Falklands will be
broadly based on Marine Nature Conservation Review survey
methodologies that JNCC staff employed between 1987 and 1998 around
the UK mainland coastline (http://www.jncc.gov.uk/page-3356
).
To assist this process, Nikki Chapman from
JNCC, funded by SMSG’s OTEP funds, met up with Karen in the
Falklands in December 2008. The aims of this trip were to:
- provide an overview of MNCR survey techniques;
- provide information on the functions of JNCC, especially its
marine teams;
- provide a link for information exchange, and
- gain a better understanding of the unique marine habitats of
the Falklands.
During the visit Nikki was able to participate
in SMSG dives and experience at first hand the unique and diverse
sea life, some of which has not yet been identified. Nikki’s visit
also included a trip to Sea Lion Island, a Ramsar site, famous for
its breeding sites for rockhoppers, gentoo penguins and elephant
seals.
JNCC has also been providing some assistance
with this programme by facilitating developments to the Marine
Recorder database application http://www.jncc.gov.uk/page-1599)
to enable SMSG to use this for collating and analysing data
collected during the project.
Nikki Chapman
Overseas Territories Fundraising Officer
Tel: +44 (0) 1733 866924
Email: