Competing values on the Antarctic high seas: CCAMLR and the challenge of marine-protected areas

AbstractThe Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) has been lauded as a leader in high seas conservation. Highlighting its leadership, CCAMLR joined the international movement to designate a representative network of marine-protected areas (MPAs) throughout the world's oceans by 2012. Over the last decade, CCAMLR has been working towards this goal convening a series of workshops and celebrating their first Southern Ocean MPA in 2009. In 2011, plans for large MPAs in the Ross Sea and East Antarctic came up for discussion but their adoption has stalled due to Member States' objections, with the primary concern being interference with fishing. In July 2013, CCAMLR's Scientific Committee and Commission convened a special intersessional meeting dedicated to making progress on the Ross Sea and East Antarctic MPAs. Progress was again stalled due to Member's objections and the Russian delegation's concerns over the legal capacity of CCAMLR to adopt Southern Ocean MPAs. To address potential barriers to MPA adoption, including fishing interests, I provide a synthesis of the CCAMLR MPA process to date and then analyse CCAMLR fishing trends from 1982 to 2012. The results show that since 1982, the number of fishing States has increased four-fold, correlating with the rise of toothfish fisheries (sold on the market as "Chilean sea bass"). While historically, and in the present, krill (Euphasia superba) comprise the largest catch, toothfish (Dissostichus spp.) bring in 20 times more profit. While the MPA proposals under consideration in 2012/2013 were designed specifically to balance conservation and fishing interests, they would displace some toothfish fishing and would limit potential future access to Southern Ocean resources. The shift in balance among fishing States along with the increasing pressure to find more toothfish fisheries may be interfering with CCAMLR's ability to effectively implement MPAs in the Convention Area.Keywords: ToothfishSouthern OceanCCAMLRAntarcticMarine-protected areas AcknowledgementsGreat appreciation is extended to Bob Hofman, Lisa Curran, Alan Hemmings, Rodolfo Werner, John Weller, David Ainley, Ryan Kelly, John Lynham, Blake Barton and two anonymous reviewers for invaluable guidance and edits on the manuscript. Thanks to the kind financial support of Stanford University School of Earth Sciences, the Emmett Interdisciplinary Programme in Environment and Resources and my advisor Larry Crowder. Finally, I extend my gratitude to the Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition, especially Jim Barnes and Claire Christian, and to the CCAMLR Secretariat, as well as all the Member States, for letting me observe the recent CCAMLR meetings. Thanks further to the CCAMLR Secretariat for providing helpful guidance and clarification throughout the drafting of this manuscript.Notes1 CCAMLR, XXVIII, para 7.19.2 CCAMLR, XXXI, para 7.105.3 Cullis-Suzuki and Pauly, "Failing the high-seas;" Österblom and Folke "Emergence of global adaptive governance;" Diz Pereira Pinto, "Fisheries Management," 134.4 The Convention for Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources.5 Brooks, "CCAMLR 2nd Intercessional Meeting."6 CCAMLR, XXXI, para 7.90–7.91; McGrath "Deep Concern."7 Fogg, A History of Antarctic Science; Berkman, Science into Policy.8 The Antarctic Treaty; United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.9 Stonehouse, Encyclopedia of Antarctica.10 Ibid.11 Ibid.; FAO, Review of the State of World Marine Fishery Resources12 Kock, Antarctic Fish; Constable, "Managing Fisheries;" Croxall and Nicol, "Management of Southern Ocean;" Marschoff et al. "Slow Recovery."13 Stokke, "The Effectiveness of CCAMLR;" Kock "Antarctic Marine Living Resources;" Constable "Lessons from CCAMLR."14 E.g. Regional Fisheries Management Organizations, or RFMOs.15 CAMLR Convention, Article II.16 Agnew, "The CCAMLR Ecosystem Monitoring Program."17 E.g. Holt and Talbot, "New Principles for Conservation," 7.18 CAMLR Convention, Article II.19 E.g. marine-protected areas.20 CAMLR Convention, Article IX 2(g).21 Lester et al., "Biological effects;" Roberts, Hawkins and Gell, "The role of marine reserves;" Lubchenco et al., "Plugging a hole."22 WSSD, Plan of Implementation, para 32(c); CCAMLR, XXI, para 4.19.23 E.g. CCAMLR XVIII, para 4.9.24 CCAMLR, XXI, para 4.20.25 CCAMLR, XXIV, Annex 7, paras 6–7.26 CCAMLR, XXIV, Annex 7, para 36 & 33.27 CCAMLR, CM 91-03.28 CCAMLR, XXVIII, para 7.19.29 CCAMLR, CM 91-04.30 SC-CAMLR XXVIII/14; The Marxan conservation weighting included protection of ecosystem processes, scientific areas and critical life history stages for penguins and flying seabirds as well as the conservation of biodiversity and the enhancement of resilience to climate change.31 Ibid.32 FAO, Review of the State of World Marine Fishery Resources33 SC-CAMLR, XXX, para 5.45 & 5.63.34 Ainley, "The Ross Sea, Antarctica;" Halpern et al. "A global map of human impact."35 Arrigo et al., "Primary Production."36 Ainley, Ballard and Weller, "Ross Sea Bioregionalization Part I."37 Ibid.38 ASOC, "Scientists' Consensus Statement."39 E.g. SC-CAMLR, XXVII, Figure 12.40 CCAMLR, XXXI, paras 7.61 & 7.64.41 CCAMLR, XXXI, paras 7.68–7.75.42 SC-CAMLR, XXX, Annex 6, paras 3.14–3.19; CCAMLR, XXXI, para 7.63.43 Cook et al., "Retreating Glacier Fronts."44 SC-CAMLR, XXX, para 5.67; CCAMLR, XXXI, para 7.62.45 SC-CAMLR, XXX, paras 5.76–5.77.46 CCAMLR, XXXI, paras 7–86-7.88.47 CCAMLR, XXXI, paras 7.82, 7.88 & 7.105.48 SC-CAMLR, IM-I, paras 2.2–2.3, 2.8; CCAMLR, SM-II, paras 3.3–3.11; Per toothfish spawning grounds: Hanchet et al., "A hypothetical life cycle."49 SC-CAMLR, IM-I, paras 2.36 -2.41; CCAMLR, SM-II, paras 3.40–3.44.50 New Zealand Foreign Affairs and Trade, Revised Proposal, http://www.mfat.govt.nz/ross-sea-mpa/tabs/proposal.php.51 Cressey, "Bid to protect Antarctic waters;" CCAMLR, "Second meeting of the Commission in Bremerhaven," http://www.ccamlr.org/en/news/2013/media-information-bremerhaven-meetings; Pers comm with attendees during the Bremerhaven meeting.52 Brooks, "CCAMLR 2nd Intersessional Meeting;" SC-CAMLR, IM-1, para 4.3.53 Based on CCAMLR, SM-II, paras 3.15–3.39 & 3.46–3.69, along with detailed meeting observations during CCAMLR SM-II. Note that these were the same concerns raised during CCAMLR, XXXI.54 CCAMLR, SM-II, paras 3.18, 3.26, 3.34; Brooks, "CCAMLR 2nd Intersessional Meeting.55 Ashford et al., "Does large-scale circulation."56 Ballard, Jongsomjit and Ainley, "Ross Sea Bioregionalization Part II."57 Ibid.58 CCAMLR, Toothfish fisheries, Division 58.4.1 & 58.4.2, http://www.ccamlr.org/en/fisheries/toothfish-fisheries.59 SC-CAMLR, IM, para 2.40 (iv).60 CCAMLR, XXXI, paras 7.83–7.103; CCAMLR, SM-II, paras 3.72–3.77.61 CCAMLR XXXI, para 7.91.62 CCAMLR, Statistical Bulletin 25, Table 8.63 CCAMLR, Statistical Bulletin 15 & 25, Table 8.64 CCAMLR, Statistical Bulletin, 25, Table 16.65 Collins et al., "The Patagonian Toothfish."66 Lack and Sant, "Patagonian Toothfish."67 COLTO, "Toothfish fact sheet."68 CCAMLR, "Toothfish fisheries," http://www.ccamlr.org/en/fisheries/toothfish-fisheries.69 CCAMLR, Statistical Bulletin 15 & 25, Table 8.70 Catches refer to "green weight" or whole fish, whereas landings refer to processed catch, which for toothfish usually means headed, gutted and tailed.71 Antarctic Krill (Euphasia superba), Patagonian and Antarctic Toothfishes (Dissostichus eleginoides and D. mawsoni) and Mackerel Icefish (Champsocephalus gunnari) support the only active commercial fisheries in the Convention Area. Although exploratory fisheries for other species (e.g. Lithodidae crabs) are have been conducted. Landings data from CCAMLR, Statistical Bulletin, 25. Ex-vessel values from Table 3.72 CCAMLR, Statistical Bulletin 25, Table 8; Nicol, Foster, and Kawaguchi, "The fishery for Antarctic krill."73 CCAMLR, XXXI, para 5.3.74 CCAMLR, Statistical Bulletin 2 & 12, Table 3 & 8.75 CCAMLR, Statistical Bulletin 15 & 25, Table 8.76 Based on applying ex-vessel values (Table 3) to landings data. Krill and icefish are customarily landed whole while toothfish catches, customarily landed as headed, gutted and tailed, were converted to landings using CCAMLR conversion factors (CCAMLR, Statistical Bulletin 25, Table 1.6).77 CCAMLR, Statistical Bulletin 25, Table 9.78 CCAMLR, Statistical Bulletin 25, Table 8; Based on converting catch to landings and applying ex-vessel values (Table 3).79 See Table 2, based on CCAMLR, SM-II, paras 3.15–3.39 & 3.46–3.69 and detailed meeting observations; CCAMLR, Statistical Bulletin 25, Table 9.80 Edwards and Heap, "CCAMLR: a commentary."81 Ibid., 356.82 CAMLR Convention, Article VII.83 Everson, "Antarctic Fisheries;" Heap, "Has CCAMLR Worked?"84 NIWA, "Survey Reveals Plenty of Fish in the Ross Sea," http://www.niwa.co.nz/news/survey-reveals-plenty-of-fish-in-the-ross-sea.85 CCAMLR, XXX, Appendix R.86 CCAMLR, XXX, para 12.53.87 CCAMLR, XXXI, para 5.21 (i).88 Cressey, "Accidents highlight risk."89 Marine Stewardship Council, "Toothfish," http://www.msc.org/cook-eat-enjoy/fish-to-eat/toothfish.90 Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch, "Chilean Seabass," http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/seafoodwatch/web/sfw_factsheet.aspx?gid = 11.91 CCAMLR, XXXI, paras 5.37–5.43; SC-CAMLR, XXXI, paras 9.1–9.16.92 CBD, Strategic Plan, Target 11; United Nations, Future We Want Resolution, para 177.