Deadline: 5th April 2023

The Antarctic Wildlife Research Fund (AWR) has launched its 9th Call for Project Proposals.

The Antarctic Wildlife Research Fund (hereafter AWR) wishes to contribute to and support CCAMLR's work so that the krill fishery is managed in a manner consistent with the precautionary approach detailed in the text of the Convention. The AWR's objectives have therefore been developed to be consistent with CCAMLR's work.

It is anticipated that any research and monitoring work supported by the AWR will incrementally build a new management approach for the krill fishery. Funded work should therefore support, rather than replace, the work of CCAMLR. When developing research proposals for consideration by the AWR, projects are expected to be collaborative in nature, including between scientists from different CCAMLR members, between scientists and krill fishing companies, and between governmental and non-governmental scientists.

Favourite research

• Krill biology and ecology to inform krill fishery management: studies on krill life history parameters, such as growth, recruitment, reproduction, as well as understanding the effects of environmental factors on krill biology, are key to informing the parameterisation of stock assessment models to define precautionary catch limits for krill fisheries.
• Krill-Predator-Fishery Interaction: Studies on the structure and characteristics of krill swarms and the foraging behaviour of different krill predators (e.g. penguins, flying seabirds, seals and whales) and the behaviour of commercial krill fisheries will facilitate understanding of the types of krill swarms preferred by predators and fisheries.
• Framework to support 'risk assessment' 'spatial overlap analysis' (formerly known as risk assessment) for krill fisheries management: Commercial krill fisheries are known to overlap in space and time with natural krill predators, thus potentially increasing the risk of disproportionate impacts on some predators.
• Cutting-edge science to monitor krill for fisheries management: Developing and enhancing the capacity and usefulness of newly available acoustic data through advanced technologies collected from fishing vessels, remotely operated autonomous underwater vehicles or fixed mooring buoys is likely to be useful for providing information on intra- and inter-annual changes in krill distribution and abundance. This would be particularly important in areas favoured by fisheries.

Financing Information

For the current round of funding, around US$ 150,000 is available. It is unlikely that this entire amount will be awarded to a single project, although it may be possible for a particularly attractive proposal. Successful proposals generally expect to receive in the region of US$ 25,000 to US$ 90,000.

Eligibility criteria

Preference for researchers from South America, Asia, Africa and Russia.

For more information, visit http://www.antarcticfund.org/call-for-proposals-2023-1