Talks to create new marine protected areas (MPAs) in the Antarctic have once again failed, despite warnings from scientists that tougher conservation measures are urgently needed to help protect the fragile ecosystem from climate change and overfishing.
The 27 countries that make up the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) met for a special meeting in Chile this month, in an attempt to break a six-year deadlock over the creation of new Antarctic MPAs.
There were high hopes this meeting would successfully deliver fresh protections for the Southern Ocean, considering a major international treaty was agreed last year that committed countries to protecting one-third of the world’s land and oceans for nature by 2030.
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But the talks, which ended on 23 June, failed to produce any agreement on new MPAs. “Unfortunately, the meeting concluded without the adoption of any new MPAs or even the agreement of a roadmap to the eventual adoption of MPAs,” says at the Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition, an NGO campaigning for Antarctic conservation.
“Two countries were not prepared to negotiate and even seemed to backtrack on their previous commitment to designating MPAs, despite the overwhelming evidence that MPAs are one of the best tools we have to protect biodiversity and increase ecosystem resilience to climate change,” she says.
Insiders blamed China and Russia for the impasse, reporting that both countries blocked progress during the meeting by demanding more scientific research to prove new MPAs are necessary in the region and arguing against any restrictions on fishing activities.
In 2009, CCAMLR countries promised to create a network of MPAs across the Southern Ocean, but despite more than 12 years of talks, only two MPAs have since been created in the region, one in the Ross Sea and another near the South Orkney Islands.
In reaction to the outcome, Chris Thorne at Greenpeace said in a press release that CCAMLR’s process of decision-making by consensus “is fundamentally broken”.
The news comes as scientists double down on efforts to investigate threats to Antarctic biodiversity, amid fears that rising temperatures are destabilising the polar ecosystem.
Earlier this month, the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) outlined its 10-year research strategy, naming polar biodiversity as one of its key research strands. The aim is to discover how climate change is affecting Antarctic wildlife, says at the BAS.
“The Antarctic and the seas around Antarctica are experiencing very rapid change as a result of climate change,” he says. “It’s important to monitor that change, not just how it’s changing the physical system, the ice, the water temperature, but how it’s affecting ecosystems as well.”
Since 2016, Antarctica has seen a sharp decline in levels of winter sea ice, which researchers fear could be the start of a long-term trend driven by climate change. This year has particularly worried scientists, with February 2023 setting a new all-time record for minimum sea ice of just 1.79 million square kilometres. Sea ice is now reforming as the continent moves into winter, but it is still tracking well below average.
Sea ice continues to grow slower than average in the (austral winter), which has led to an even larger extent anomaly in the last few days. An obvious record low for this time of year. Yikes.
See more graphics at: . Data from .
— Zack Labe (@ZLabe)
Low levels of sea ice threaten key Antarctic species such as crabeater seals, Adélie penguins and the Antarctic krill, says Hill. The latter forms the base of the Antarctic food web, with any decline in krill numbers likely to have severe knock-on impacts for whales and other marine wildlife.
There are catch limits for krill in the Southern Ocean under the Antarctic Treaty System, but researchers warn those fixed limits to krill numbers.
New MPAs in the Southern Ocean would improve the ecosystem’s resilience to climate change, says Hill, as well as providing designated areas for scientific research. “One potential benefit of them is that they will provide refuge areas for populations that are under stress from the effects of climate change,” he says.
Crucially, new MPAs should ideally heavily restrict fishing activities, says Hill. But with China and Russia in the Southern Ocean, and little to show from this month’s CCAMLR meeting, further protections for the Antarctic region look more distant than ever.
Both the Russian and Chinese delegations were contacted for comment.
