After two weeks of negotiations in Hobart, the 44th annual meeting of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) has closed with little progress toward long-delayed goals to
After two weeks of negotiations in Hobart, the 44th annual meeting of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) has closed with little progress toward long-delayed goals to protect the Southern Ocean.
Yet a growing group of members are standing strong for the protection of Antarctica, refusing to bow to pressure to expand industrial fishing in one of the planet’s most fragile ecosystems.
“This year, conservation-minded countries showed that the future of Antarctica cannot be dictated by those who put fishing before protection,” said Claire Christian, Executive Director of the Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition (ASOC). “Key proponents refused to compromise on science, stood united in defense of marine life, and sent a clear signal that CCAMLR’s founding purpose of conservation must come first.”
A strong show of unity from Chile, Argentina, the European Union and its member states, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea, and other members, successfully resisted attempts to expand krill fishing in predator-rich areas without safeguards for penguins, seals, and whales.
At the heart of the meeting were two intertwined issues: the proposed marine protected area (MPA) for the Antarctic Peninsula and the management of the krill fishery that overlaps much of
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