November 7, 1997
HOBART, Australia-- WWF- World Wide Fund For Nature, together with
the other members of the Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition
(ASOC) today expressed dismay at the outcome of the international
Antarctic fisheries meeting here.
The meeting of the Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine
Living Resources (CCAMLR) finished its meeting having opened up
nearly all areas of the Southern Ocean to the lucrative Patagonian
toothfish fishery, with a legal limit of over 18,000 tonnes.
"The seas around the wilderness of Antarctica have been opened for
business," said Margaret Moore of WWF-Australia. "ASOC is appalled at
the blatant greed that nations brought to this meeting. The Antarctic
ecosystem, for which we have fought for so long, is facing its most
serious threat since the era of commercial sealing and whaling."
The 23 members of CCAMLR, including the United States, United
Kingdom, Spain, Norway, Japan, Korea, Argentina and Chile, meet
annually to discuss the conservation and management of Southern
Ocean ecosystems and fisheries. This year they are facing an
unregulated goldrush for Patagonian toothfish, also known as Chilean
sea bass, black hake, and mero. In the past two years, vessels from all
over the world have been implicated in this fishery, prompting the
Scientific Committee of CCAMLR to warn that the fish stocks face
imminent collapse. Despite this warning, political and economic
considerations triumphed.
Not only fish are at risk in this fishery, however. Toothfish are largely
caught on longlines, and a conservative estimate of 140,000 seabirds
have been killed in the fishery over the last
year. These seabirds include albatross and petrel species, some of
which have been classified as endangered.
While most countries said they were concerned about the fish and the
seabirds, it was clear from their behavior at the meeting that their primary
concern was to make sure their own fishers get a slice of the action. "It
is a bleak day for Antarctic conservation," said Moore.
Contact:
Cassandra Phillips at +44 1386 8820 55 (phone and fax) or the
Antarctica Project, USA at +1-202-544-0236; fax: +1-202-544-8483;
email: antarctica@igc.org
Notes to editors:
1. The following nations are members of CCAMLR: Argentina, Australia,
Belgium, Brazil, Chile, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Republic of
Korea, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Russia, South Africa, Spain,
Sweden, Ukraine, UK, USA, and Uruguay; the European Community is
also a member. The following nations have acceded to CCAMLR but are
not members: Bulgaria, Canada, Finland, Greece, Netherlands and Peru.
2. The Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition leads the international
campaign for the conservation of Antarctica. ASOC is composed of over
230 conservation organizations in 49 countries