Scientists together in the cold - Antarctica: Global Science from a Frozen Continent - page 261

Figure 9.4 The SCAR SALE programme map of 145 subglacial lakes. (Credit: Martin Siegert)

made 31 cruises spread over the summer seasons of 1980 85

to establish the importance of krill in the SouthernOcean food web and to estimate how
much krill was available before much

- 81, 1983 - 84 and 1984 -

fishing took place. As with all SCAR programmes,

the BIOMASS fieldwork and analysis were funded through national programmes.

SCAR provided coordination in planning operations and integrating results. BIOMASS
was important not only for establishing the role of krill in the Southern Ocean
ecosystem, but also for leading directly to the creation of the Convention on the
Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), and its adoption of an
ecosystem-based approach to fisheries management. The BIOMASS data initiated

the CCAMLR database. The modern equivalent of BIOMASS is SCAR sCensusof

Antarctic Marine Life (CAML) programme, a major international effort involving
some 17 ships, which had its

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first cruise in December 2006 and which ended in 2010.
International recognition of SCAR s role as a forum for coordination and

collaboration was provided by the award of the prestigious Prince of Asturias

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prize
in 2002 for international cooperation. The prize money of 50 000 euros enabled
SCAR to begin its fellowship programme for young scientists.

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