THE South Georgia toothfish quota dropped from 2800 tonnes to 1800 tonnes this year, with a reduction in the number of vessels from 9 to 6, confirmed the Senior Executive of the Government of South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands (GSGSSI) Martin Collins today.
The huge tabular blocks of ice that frequently break off Antarctica get swept towards the Atlantic and then ground on the shallow continental shelf that surrounds the 170km-long island of South Georgia.
Falkland Islands and South Georgia took their place in a world class fisheries exhibition in China last week.
The number of tour ships planning to visit South Georgia in the coming summer looks set to fall for the second year in a row, according to a report in the August edition of the South Georgia Newsletter.
A Royal Navy destroyer will set sail for the Falkland Islands from Portsmouth to maintain Britain's interests in the South Atlantic, reports Royal Navy News.
Earlier this year, geologists on the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) ship “RRS James Clark Ross” completed a project to map the sea floor around the volcanic South Sandwich Islands using multi-beam sonar. This completes a project started three years ago, reports the latest edition of the South Georgia newsletter.
The Royal Navy frigate HMS Portland lead the Maritime component in a Tri-Service week long exercise “Purple Strike” involving all of the military units based in the Falkland Islands. Exercises are conducted on a regular basis to ensure all units are prepared and capable of dealing with any eventuality, including the ability to defend the Falklands if required.
The two South Georgia Island King Edward Point (KEP) based scientists are undertaking regular winter survey work at sea to investigate the spatial overlap between the winter krill fishery and the distribution of foraging predators and fish larvae in South Georgia waters, reports the SG newsletter.
Put together the UK’s 16 Overseas Territories (including Falklands and South Georgia) are fifth in the world league table of bird extinctions, with at least ten species from the territories going to oblivion since 1500AD, partially or wholly because of the impact of non-native mammals, such as rats, feral cats, mice and pigs, according to BirdLife International site.
A set of four stamps featuring some of the wrecks and hulks around South Georgia Island shores in the South Atlantic was released on June 25th. The release date was chosen to coincide with the midwinter full moon. The photographs used on the stamps were taken by Thies Matzen, who also wrote the text below, which was published in the June edition of the South Georgia Newsletter.