О создании морского охраняемого района (МОР) в регионе моря Росса под управлением АНТКОМ
On October, 2016, at the 35th Session of CCAMLR, the member states of the Antarctic Commission adopted Conservation Measure 95-01 (2016) and agreed on the creation of a marine protected area (MPA) in the region of the Ross Sea and the adjacent areas westwards. The total area of the created MPA makes up 1.55 million sq. km or 452 thousand sq. mi. This area is located in high seas of the World Ocean and is not controlled by any state, which distinguishes this MPA from the other ones, currently existing in the waters under the jurisdiction of a number of states. It is expected that regulation of anthropogenic impact in the MPA area of the Ross Sea will be carried out by joint efforts of the CCAMLR member states. A prolonged discussion on this MPA creation started in 2011. As it progressed, Russia, Ukraine, China and Japan opposed to creation of MPAs in the Antarctic, justifying that there is no scientific rationale for their creation and it is not allowed by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea to place MPAs under the control of any state. A proposed alternative MPA model, which will be managed by an international organization, is still mostly provisional, despite its adoption by the CCAMLR member states. Nature of activities in such an MPA is defined by Conservation Measure 91-04 (2011) and is mostly of a proclamation approach. Various conservation trends for distribution areas, habitats, biocenoses, biodiversity, etc. serve as a basis of these activities. However, the Antarctic Convention does not expect such an activity from the member states, including the creation of MPAs. As well as the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea does not grant the states in high seas of the World Ocean the rights for marine resources conservation. Thus, the Antarctic Commission member states, claiming this Antarctic region to be an MPA and intending to protect it, went beyond the authority of the Antarctic Convention and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. It is allowed to continue toothfish fisheries in the created MPA, but in a significantly limited area. There is no reason to count on intensification of scientific activities of the Antarctic Convention member states, because it did not happen in the other Antarctic regions, which are now off-limits to fisheries. It is noted that primary proponents for MPAs creation and the states that supported that decision, pronounced their aims to protect living resources and ecosystems, while there is no hazard to either of them. It is reckoned that creation of such MPAs is mostly targeted at positive responses from international non-governmental organizations and global community. In case of CCAMLR plans implementation to cover all the Antarctic area with MPAs, existence of the Antarctic Commission as an organization regulating fisheries will lose its meaning.
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| Format: | Journal Contribution biblioteca |
| Language: | Russian |
| Published: |
2017
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| Subjects: | Marine protected areas, Conservation measures, CCAMLR, International organizations, Fishery organizations, Biodiversity, Marine ecosystems, Aquatic biological resources, Legal aspects, Law of the Sea, Toothfish, |
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1834/11024 |
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| Summary: | On October, 2016, at the 35th Session of CCAMLR, the member states of the Antarctic Commission adopted Conservation Measure 95-01 (2016) and agreed on the creation of a marine protected area (MPA) in the region of the Ross Sea and the adjacent areas westwards. The total area of the created MPA makes up 1.55 million sq. km or 452 thousand sq. mi. This area is located in high seas of the World Ocean and is not controlled by any state, which distinguishes this MPA from the other ones, currently existing in the waters under the jurisdiction of a number of states. It is expected that regulation of anthropogenic impact in the MPA area of the Ross Sea will be carried out by joint efforts of the CCAMLR member states. A prolonged discussion on this MPA creation started in 2011. As it progressed, Russia, Ukraine, China and Japan opposed to creation of MPAs in the Antarctic, justifying that there is no scientific rationale for their creation and it is not allowed by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea to place MPAs under the control of any state. A proposed alternative MPA model, which will be managed by an international organization, is still mostly provisional, despite its adoption by the CCAMLR member states. Nature of activities in such an MPA is defined by Conservation Measure 91-04 (2011) and is mostly of a proclamation approach. Various conservation trends for distribution areas, habitats, biocenoses, biodiversity, etc. serve as a basis of these activities. However, the Antarctic Convention
does not expect such an activity from the member states, including the creation of MPAs. As well as the
United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea does not grant the states in high seas of the World
Ocean the rights for marine resources conservation. Thus, the Antarctic Commission member states,
claiming this Antarctic region to be an MPA and intending to protect it, went beyond the authority of the
Antarctic Convention and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. It is allowed to continue
toothfish fisheries in the created MPA, but in a significantly limited area. There is no reason to count on
intensification of scientific activities of the Antarctic Convention member states, because it did not happen in the other Antarctic regions, which are now off-limits to fisheries. It is noted that primary proponents for MPAs creation and the states that supported that decision, pronounced their aims to protect living resources and ecosystems, while there is no hazard to either of them. It is reckoned that creation of such MPAs is mostly targeted at positive responses from international non-governmental organizations and global community. In case of CCAMLR plans implementation to cover all the Antarctic area with MPAs, existence of the Antarctic Commission as an organization regulating fisheries will lose its meaning. |
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