In the Antarctic, will create the world’s largest marine protected area – TASS

SYDNEY, 28 Oct. /Offset. TASS Pavel Vanichkin/. The participants ending in Hobart (Australian state of Tasmania) the 35th annual meeting of the Commission for the conservation of Antarctic marine living resources (CCAMLR) agreed to create the world’s largest marine protected area. This is stated in the statement of the Commission adopted on Friday following the meeting. The total area of Marine protected area (MPAS) in the Ross sea will be over 1.5 million sq km, the agreement will be valid for 35 years.

a proposal to establish MPAS in the Ross sea was originally performed jointly by the US and New Zealand, however, at the annual meeting of CCAMLR in recent years the proposal has not received support from Russia and other member countries of the Commission. “We needed to change our proposal that it received the unanimous approval of all 25 members of CCAMLR”, – said the head of the new Zealand foreign Minister Murray mcculley. “The agreement takes into account the balance of environmental objectives, sustainable fishing and science.”

the Outcome of the meeting of CCAMLR was warmly greeted by one of the leaders of the International environmental organization “Alliance of the southern ocean” (Antarctic Ocean Alliance) Mike Walker. “For the first time in the country (participants CCAMLR) was able to put aside their differences and to agree on the protection of large areas in the southern ocean and international waters,” he said.

“At the present meeting the question of establishing MPAS in the Ross sea was considered complex and there was a compromise, taking into account environmental and management aspects, – told the correspondent of TASS in a telephone interview with the Deputy head of the Russian delegation at the CCAMLR meeting Dmitry kremeniuk. – Some concerns remained with us, China and Japan, however, striving for cooperation, the participants managed the issue of protected area in the Ross sea to confirmation”.

“the Authors proposed to create MOR for 50 years, in the end I consider our proposals and reduced the term to 35 years. – said kremeniuk. – For Russia it is also important that the inside of the MPAS in the Ross sea will be a special area of research, which is established for 30 years and where is possible fishing with additional restrictions. It is relatively small in area, but it is significant from the point of view of fishing, because there is concentrated the fleet and there is fishing of the Antarctic toothfish”.

“Russia retained the right to conduct fishing, in terms of volume of catch, the total area of the zone was slightly increased, but there has been a modification of its districts, which still requires further assessment. In particular, this zone includes areas where previously fishing was not conducted, in other of its member areas is a complicated ice situation, in the third – great depths”, he said.

Deputy head of the Russian delegation also said that at the present meeting of CCAMLR was considered for two other environmental initiatives: the Australian proposal to set up MPAS in East Antarctica and the proposal of the EU to establish such a district by the sea Weddel. “The meeting proposed that the authors of these proposals to be finalised and submitted for consideration at the next meeting next year,” said kremeniuk.

CCAMLR was established in 1982 on the basis of the international Convention for the conservation of Antarctic marine living resources. CCAMLR is responsible for the conservation of marine resources of the Antarctic, using an ecosystem approach to management. Such control does not preclude the conduct of commercial and research fishing. A common solution to CCAMLR are taken solely on the basis of consensus. The Commission consists of 24 States and the European Union. Currently the Chairman of the CCAMLR is Russia, the headquarters of the Commission located in Hobart.