Friday, October 28, 2016

Huge new Antarctic marine reserve created

The new Antarctic safe zone in the Ross Sea will encompass 600 thousand square miles (1.5 million square km) and be the largest marine protected area in the world.

Penguins jumps onto an ice shelf after their feeding swim. Photo by Robin Waserman, National Science Foundation, via NOAA.
Penguins jump onto an ice shelf in the Ross Sea after their feeding swim. Photo by Robin Waserman, 
National Science Foundation, via NOAA.

Working from Australia, policy makers and scientists from 24 nations and the European Union unanimously agreed on Friday (October 28, 2016) to create a marine reserve, almost as large as Alaska, in the Ross Sea off the coast of Antarctica. The agreement will take effect on December 1, 2017 and remain in effect for at least 35 years. It will be the largest marine protected area in the world.

The new Antarctic safe zone will encompass 600 thousand square miles (1.5 million square km) of ocean. Commercial fishing will be banned from about 30 percent of the area, and 28 percent will be designated as research zones, where scientists can catch limited amounts of fish and krill, tiny invertebrates that provide food for whales, penguins, seals and other animals.

The Antarctic region in and around the Ross Sea is one of the last great ocean wilderness areas on the planet, according to a NOAA webpage on the need to protect this region:
It supports one of the most productive ecosystems in the Southern Ocean, high biodiversity, and a unique assemblage of species found nowhere else on Earth. It is also one of the most studied polar regions, with some of the world’s longest time series of polar observations.
The agreement was reached at the annual meeting of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), which comprises 24 countries including the United States and European Union.

Orcas near Ross Island in the Ross Sea. Photo by Joe Stanford, National Science Foundation, via NOAA.
Orcas near Ross Island in the Ross Sea. Photo by Joe Stanford, National Science Foundation, 
via NOAA.

Image via Smithsonian
Map via the Smithsonian
CCAMLR Executive Secretary Andrew Wright said in an October 28 statement that the decision has been several years in the making:
This has been an incredibly complex negotiation which has required a number of Member countries bringing their hopes and concerns to the table at six annual CCAMLR meetings as well as at intersessional workshops.
A number of details regarding the MPA are yet to be finalised but the establishment of the protected zone is in no doubt and we are incredibly proud to have reached this point.
Krill are the main food source for animals such as whales and penguins. Photo by Kyle Hoppe, National Science Foundation, via NOAA.
Krill are the main food source for animals such as whales and penguins. Photo by Kyle Hoppe, 
National Science Foundation, via NOAA.

A jellyfish under Ross Sea ice. Photo by Henry Kaiser, National Science Foundation, via NOAA.
A jellyfish under Ross Sea ice. Photo by Henry Kaiser, National Science Foundation, via NOAA.

Starfish on a yellow sponge in the Ross Sea. Photo by Steve Rupp, National Science Foundation, via NOAA.
Starfish on a yellow sponge in the Ross Sea. Photo by Steve Rupp, National Science Foundation,
via NOAA.

Evan Bloom, head of the United States delegation told the New York Times:
This is a major step in marine conservation not just for the Antarctic but internationally.
Part of it is the size, but the significance of this is that most of the marine protected area is a no-take area, and that involved 25 countries and complex, long-term environmental negotiations. It is one of the biggest steps for the international community.
A leopard sea in Antarctica. Photo by Peter Rejcek, National Science Foundation, via NOAA.
A leopard sea on Ross Island. Photo by Peter Rejcek, National Science Foundation, via NOAA.
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Emperor penguins and their chicks on Ross Island, in the Ross Sea, Antarctica. Photo by Paul Ponganis, National Science Foundation, via NOAA.
Emperor penguins and their chicks on Ross Island. Photo by Paul Ponganis, National Science 
Foundation, via NOAA.

Bottom line: Policy makers and scientists unanimously agreed on Friday (October 28, 2016) to create a marine reserve – the largest marine protected area in the world – in the Ross Sea off the coast of Antarctica.



Saturday, October 15, 2016

Future of Antarctic marine protected areas at risk

Date:
October 13, 2016
Source:
Stanford's School of Earth, Energy & Environmental Sciences
Summary:
Antarctica's surrounding waters are home to some of the healthiest marine ecosystems on Earth and support thriving populations of krill, seabirds, fish and whales. But efforts to establish a network of effective Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in the Southern Ocean are being hobbled by political infighting and demands that prioritize fishing interests over conservation by members of the international consortium tasked with conserving the region, scientists say.

Antarctica's surrounding waters are home to some of the healthiest marine ecosystems on Earth and support thriving populations of krill, seabirds, fish and whales. But efforts to establish a network of effective Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in the Southern Ocean are being hobbled by political infighting and demands that prioritize fishing interests over conservation by members of the international consortium tasked with conserving the region, Stanford scientists say.

The findings, published Oct. 14 in Science, come as 24 countries and the European Union convene in Hobart, Australia, next week for the annual meeting of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), to resume negotiations of Southern Ocean MPAs.
"Our research shows that CCAMLR's positions for and against MPAs have become entrenched," said lead author Cassandra Brooks, a PhD candidate at Stanford School of Earth, Energy & Environmental Sciences. "Negotiations have become entangled with larger global geopolitics and we see an emerging scramble for marine resources in this remote frontier."

The authors argue that as a leader in international fisheries management, CCAMLR has the opportunity to set an example for ongoing negotiations at the United Nations level to develop a legal instrument for conserving biodiversity in international waters, also known as the high seas. But if CCAMLR continues to fall short in its duties, it could set a sorry example with ramifications for marine protection in other parts of the world, said study coauthor Kristina Gjerde, senior high seas advisor at the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and adjunct professor at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in Monterey California.

"It would send the message that fishing interests trump conservation, despite the global interests at stake," Gjerde said. "It could raise doubts that nations will be able to set aside short-term national interests to confront global ocean challenges stemming from accelerating climate change. And finally, it is doubtful that these diminished sites would count toward global goals for MPAs as they would not meet the IUCN MPA criteria."

Reverse burden of proof

Despite more than a decade of international negotiations informed by robust scientific planning, CCAMLR has failed to meet its goal of adopting a system of MPAs in the Southern Ocean to conserve biodiversity in the face of threats from climate change and potential overfishing, the authors say.

A major obstacle is agreement about the concept of "rational use," which sets the terms under which CCAMLR's member nations are allowed to fish in the Southern Ocean. The region contains some of Earth's least exploited fish stocks, and its large populations of krill -- small crustaceans that are food for the region's fish, seabirds and whales -- and toothfish have made it an increasingly prized fishing spot. Krill is valuable as fishmeal and for making health supplements, and toothfish are sold as lucrative "Chilean sea bass" around the world.

As originally defined, rational use required that fishing not cause irreversible damage to the greater marine ecosystems of the Southern Ocean and for precautionary catch limits and scientific oversight to be set in place. But as the number of CCAMLR's fishing nations has grown, and as pressure increases to secure access to current and future resources in the Southern Ocean, some nations are pushing to equate rational use with the unfettered right to fish.

Countries such as China and Russia have argued against MPA proposals that in any way restrict fishing and demand sufficient evidence to show that fishing threatens ecosystems. "MPA opponents want to reverse the burden of proof," said co-author Larry Crowder, science director of the Center for Ocean Solutions in Monterey, California, and a fellow at the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment. "When rational use was first negotiated, the whole idea was that you needed data in order to fish. Now, it's being interpreted by some fishing nations as unequivocal fishing."

Sunset clauses

Sunset clauses on the MPAs are another source of fierce debate. MPAs are usually established in perpetuity, but some CCAMLR member nations are advocating that Southern Ocean MPAs have built-in expiration dates ranging from 20 to 30 years. "Twenty years is shorter than the lifespan of most Antarctic predators which the MPAs are proposing to protect," Brooks said. But not only are sunset clauses inconsistent with the stated goals of MPAs, they do not meet internationally established criteria for protected areas and may not qualify for global MPA targets, the authors warn.

Broader geopolitics have also infiltrated CCAMLR negotiations, the authors say. For example, poor international relations between nations -- such as tensions between Russia and the United States over Crimea -- seem to be spilling into the negotiating room. Nations opposing MPAs are being accused of not negotiating in good faith, while proponents of MPAs are accused of using MPAs a political tool.
"The result is a breakdown of trust between member nations, causing a stalemate over MPAs," Crowder said.

High seas implications

Two large MPAs are currently being negotiated at CCAMLR: one in the East Antarctic and one in the Ross Sea -- a region that has been deemed "The Last Ocean" because it is perhaps the healthiest large marine ecosystem left on the planet.

"We've seen an East Antarctic and Ross Sea MPA come to CCAMLR's decision-making table five times now without being adopted. Next week will be the sixth," Brooks said. "Each year, during the course of negotiations, the proposed MPAs in these two regions have continued to be downsized, with ecologically critical areas removed and 'research fishing zones' added."

With CCAMLR meetings set to resume on Oct. 17, Brooks and her co-authors urge member nations to find a way forward in upholding their mandate and meeting their commitment toward MPAs. "The Southern Ocean is our best-case scenario," Brooks said. "If we can't figure out how to protect marine ecosystems there, it suggests it will be extremely difficult to protect them anywhere else."


Story Source:
Materials provided by Stanford's School of Earth, Energy & Environmental Sciences. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

Journal Reference:
  1. C. M. Brooks, L. B. Crowder, L. M. Curran, R. B. Dunbar, D. G. Ainley, K. J. Dodds, K. M. Gjerde, U. R. Sumaila. Science-based management in decline in the Southern Ocean. Science, 2016; 354 (6309): 185 DOI: 10.1126/science.aah4119


Stanford's School of Earth, Energy & Environmental Sciences. "Future of Antarctic marine protected areas at risk." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 13 October 2016. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/10/161013153230.htm>.