Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
impact and associated severity. An advisory Committee for Environmental Protection
(CEP), established under the Protocol, helps with implementation matters that extend to
both terrestrial and marine environments. This has, however, led to some uncertainty
because it is not clear whether CCAMLR should take the lead when it comes to
establishing, for example, marine protected areas. CCAMLR parties, including those states
with substantial fishing interests, were often slow to respond to area closures, but now work
with the CEP to implement such marine closure measures.
The environmental protection of the Antarctic is not simply a matter for the Protocol. It is
part of a wider web of environmental agreements that stretch and contain the Antarctic. In
the realm of fishing, CCAMLR and the Protocol in different ways address the marine
environment. But so do others. The Convention for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin
Tuna (CCSBT) addresses the management of this particular fish species, regardless of
location. Its remit does not cease at the Antarctic Convergence. While fish stocks are to be
found in the southern portions of the Indian and Pacific Oceans, it was discovered that Japan
in 2005 was exploiting this species in the CCAMLR zone of application. This fishing was
not authorized by either CCSBT or CCAMLR. There was no coordination between the
parties and, to this day, there remains no resolution about how to manage the respective
terms and conditions.
This problem of overlap and conflicting jurisdictions is not unique to fish in the Antarctic.
Variations do exist in the coordination and cooperation between the conventions and their
parties. A good example is the Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels
(ACAP), which entered into force in 2001 and was designed to encourage these species'
conservation, especially given fears over sea bird mortality due to fishing in the Southern
Ocean. Unlike in the case of the Bluefin Tuna, CCAMLR and ACAP parties have worked
closely with one another to share information on sea bird population in the Southern
Oceanillegal, unregulateden Peninsula. The key difference between the Albatross and the
Bluefin Tuna, however, is the value of the resource in question. It appears to be a lot easier
to collaborate when the species concerned is not commercially exploitable.
Other areas of potential overlap and conflict include the Convention on Biological Diversity
(CBD) and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). The CBD, for
instance, sits uneasily with the ATS and the development of biological prospecting. While
the ATS remains unable to trumpet a comprehensive regulatory approach, the CBD parties
have periodically reflected on the growing interest in Antarctic-based biological
prospecting. In the absence of any agreement within the ATS, the consultative parties have
had to draw upon rules relating to science management and the strictures imposed by the
Protocol itself, especially Article 3. UNCLOS, as we noted with reference to extended
