Member countries of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) have agreed on a range of measures to conserve Antarctica’s marine living resources.
After considering a body of submissions based on the best available scientific data, the world’s leaders in Antarctic marine science and policy achieved alignment on a number of significant issues. Outcomes of the 33rd annual meeting of the Commission in Hobart include:
- the setting of catch limits for CCAMLR-managed fisheries
- agreement on a range of research to improve knowledge of toothfish biology and its ecosystem to support the precautionary management of toothfish fisheries
- confirmation of a staged process to develop a feedback management procedure to manage the krill fishery in the southwest Atlantic
- significant enhancement of the Catch Documentation Scheme to enable better monitoring of the movement of toothfish from point of landing through to market
- agreement to share vessel monitoring data, provided by fishing vessels to the CCAMLR Secretariat, with relevant Maritime Rescue Coordination Centres to improve search and rescue operations in the Southern Ocean
- agreement to hold a symposium in Chile in 2015, marking CCAMLR’s 35th anniversary, to consider the principal challenges for CCAMLR and how the organisation may respond to them.
Stakeholders from around the world have been eagerly awaiting the outcome of discussions on marine protected areas (MPAs). One proposal was jointly submitted by Australia, the European Union and France and covers an area of 1 million km2in East Antarctica. The other, submitted by New Zealand and the United States, covers 1.3 million km2 in the Ross Sea region.
Consensus was not reached on either of the proposed MPAs. Several Members requested additional time to consider issues associated with
- justification for the sizes of the proposed areas
- the proposed duration of the MPAs, and
- the process to support research and monitoring within MPAs and the implications for fisheries.
As CCAMLR operates on a decision-making model that requires consensus, the agreement of all 25 Members is required before a proposal is adopted and implemented.
‘A range of views and national interests on complex issues such as MPAs in international waters creates a challenging environment for reaching consensus,’ says CCAMLR Executive Secretary Andrew Wright.
Research and collaboration continue around the establishment of other MPAs (e.g. in the Weddell Sea) as part of CCAMLR’s representative system of Antarctic MPAs. These and other conservation issues will be considered at future meetings of CCAMLR.