Declaring Antarctica’s Ross Sea a protected area victory for conservation

IN WHAT has been hailed as a victory and a historic moment in the history of conservation, the Antarctica’s Ross Sea has been declared a Marine Protected Area (MPA).

The announcement was made at the annual meeting of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), where delegates from 24 nations and the EU voted unanimously to create the world’s largest protected area on land or sea.

The move marked the first time a large-scale marine protected area was established on the high seas.

The 1.57 million km2 area – which is larger than the UK, France and Germany together – will be protected from the kind of industrial fishing that has had devastating effects on other oceans around the world.

Endurance swimmer and ocean advocate Lewis Pugh, who led a campaign to protect the region, said the move was a crucial first step in a series of MPAs around Antarctica.

Pugh had gone on a series of swims in the Ross Sea in February 2015 to draw attention to the issue. He also visited Moscow numerous times to convince Russian officials to endorse the Ross Sea MPA.

The Russian government had blocked the proposal at least five times.

“I am overjoyed. The Ross Sea is one of the most magnificent places on earth. This is a dream come true,” Pugh said.

He said high seas represented 45 percent of the Earth’s surface, but were largely unprotected and faced “rampant overfishing”.

He said the announcement was special because Russia, the US, the EU and the other CCAMLR nations shook hands at a time of strained political relations.

The Antarctic Ocean Alliance said two additional proposals for marine protected areas in East Antarctic waters and the Weddell Sea were still being discussed.