Dr. Andrew Constable awarded 2008 Pew Fellowship in marine co...( NEW YORK CITY Dr. Andrew Constable ...)

NEW YORK CITY Dr. Andrew Constable of Australia, Leader of the Antarctic Marine Ecosystems program at the Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems Cooperative Research Centre in Tasmania, has been awarded the prestigious 2008 Pew Fellowship in Marine Conservation to help prevent unsustainable exploitation of Antarctic krill fisheries. He will create sophisticated ecosystem-based management plans for these rapidly-growing fisheries in the Southern Ocean, and work with Antarctic scientists and authorities to implement them. By incorporating broad environmental factors rather than focusing solely on krill, the plans will also safeguard populations of endangered baleen whales, penguins, and seabirds who feed primarily on these shrimp-like animals.

Dr. Constable is among five of the worlds most innovative and progressive thinkers in ocean science to receive this highly competitive three-year, $150,000 Fellowship in support of critical marine environment conservation initiatives around the world. The Pew Institute for Ocean Science administers the awards and today announced the 2008 Fellows, whose projects will be based in Antarctica, France, China, Canada, and Florida. (Learn more about the other recipients and their projects at www.pewoceanscience.org).

Antarctica is home to incredible biodiversity, with birds and mammals that are found nowhere else on Earth, said Pew Institute for Ocean Science Executive Director Dr. Ellen Pikitch, who in January concluded a two-week expedition to the frozen South Pole continent. It is critical that any fisheries management plan for this region take into account the ecosystems many stakeholders, and this Fellowship will support Dr. Constables proven skills at designing this type of comprehensive plan.

Though only two inches long, Antarctic krill are the predominant food source for the worlds largest animals--baleen whales--and for other residents of the harsh Antarctic re
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