Associate professor Zuo Tao from YSFRI, participated in the International Expert Workshop the Scientific Foundation of a CCAMLR Marine Protected Area in the Weddell Sea, held in Bremerhaven, Germany, April 7 – 9, 2014. This workshop was convened by Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Germany. More than 40 scientists from Germany, UK, Belgium, France, Switzerland, Norway, Italy, Russia, Ukraine, Japan, Korea and China participated in this workshop.

The workshop aimed to review the scientific data currently available for a Weddell Sea MPA evaluation, and the preliminary results of the analyses done so far by the AWI. The workshop agreed that the protection of biodiversity was the key issue identified by all four subgroups. The priority for the next stages of the project should therefore be scientific work to identify areas of importance for biodiversity. Questions relating to MPA design and management (e.g. whether there should be one large, or several smaller, MPAs) should not influence this work. The design of a MPA is a separate step, which must also include other considerations such as the requirements for research and monitoring or the degree to which it contributes to the effectiveness of an appropriate network of MPAs.

During the workshop, Dr. Zuo Tao made a presentation entitled: “Information on Chinese studies in CCAMLR subarea 48 and some thoughts on the Weddell Sea MPA planning and process”. Dr T. Zuo reviewed the historical Antarctic studies by China in the past thirty years. The Chinese studies in CCAMLR Area 48 can be divided into three phases roughly according to their research regions. During the first phase between 1984 and1987, interdisciplinary research was carried out around the South Shetland Islands. After 1988, China changed research priorities into long-term environmental monitoring of the local zone around the Great Wall Station of China at Fildes Peninsula (Subarea 48.1). Lastly, scientific observations north of the Weddell Sea have been performed in the course of Chinese circumpolar expeditions. In addition, studies on krill resources have been done on aboard krill fishing vessels in recent years.