Primary productivity and estimates of potential yields of the southern ocean

Abstract

The growing interest by several countries in the exploitation of the living resources of the Southern Ocean is reflected in the recent expeditions to the Antarctic by research vessels, commercial factory trawlers and ice-breakers of the Federal Republic of Germany, Poland, U.S.S.R., Japan, France, Argentina, USA and Taiwan. The chapter reviews the subject of primary productivity of the Southern Ocean in light of the more recent data collected during ELTANIN Cruises 38, 46 and 51. With the impending commercial exploitation of the Antarctic living resources, an accurate assessment of the primary productivity of the Southern Ocean is of considerable importance for the proper management of these resources. Primary productivity data of the Southern Ocean, in general, showed good correlation with the distribution of the phytoplankton standing crop. For instance, low values were reported in the Drake Passage, the Bellingshausen Sea, the Antarctic Convergence, and in the oceanic waters in general.