The Antarctic Commission in Australia is struggling to find concrete solutions to protect the Southern Ocean. Whether the meeting will be a success depends primarily on Russia and China.
Experts are increasingly concerned about the effects of the climate crisis on Antarctica. It was only announced in September that the extent of sea ice around the continent had reached a new low. The ice only extends over almost 17 million square kilometers – significantly less than in previous years in the Antarctic winter.
Now the governments responsible for protecting Antarctic marine fauna and flora in Hobart, Australia are once again struggling to find concrete solutions for protecting the Southern Ocean. They have two weeks to do this at the annual meeting of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), which begins today.
Criticism of the Antarctic Commission
“This year, the Southern Ocean experienced record low sea ice levels and previously unimaginably high temperatures, as well as the deaths of an estimated 9,000 emperor penguin chicks due to sea ice loss,” said expert Andrea Kavanagh of the Pew Bertarelli Ocean Legacy Project. The speed of change in Antarctica is alarming, said Kavanagh: “But what is even more alarming is that CCAMLR has taken no action to combat climate change in the last decade.”
The extent of sea ice around Antarctica has reached a new low.
One of the Commission’s main issues is once again the designation of three large Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). This concerns areas in East Antarctica, the Weddell Sea and the waters of the Antarctic Peninsula. Because of resistance from Russia and China, a breakthrough has always failed – most recently in June at a special CCAMLR meeting in Santiago de Chile. All CCAMLR decisions must be made unanimously by the 27 member states, including Germany.
“MPAs will not stop climate change, but they will help make the ecosystem more resilient,” Kavanagh said. It is high time for the CCAMLR to get out of its “dead end”.
Krill fishing causes problems
Stricter requirements for krill fishing are also on the Commission’s agenda. The tiny crustaceans are caught en masse to make oil and fish feed – but they are extremely important for the fragile Antarctic ecosystem with animals such as whales and penguins. “In connection with the climate crisis, krill fishing is causing the entire Antarctic ecosystem to falter and with it the climate stability of our planet,” said Sascha Müller-Kraenner, Federal Managing Director of German Environmental Aid (DUH).
The Antarctic Commission is coming under increasing pressure because it has had little success for years. The last significant measure was taken in 2016 with the agreement of the Ross Sea Protected Area, a marginal sea in the Southern Ocean. Since then, the climate and biodiversity crisis has worsened, warned the Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition (ASOC).