The Antarctic Maritime Tracker: Marine Protected Areas
Mapping CCAMLR-designated MPAs and fishery research zones
MPA Planning Domains
The CAMLR Convention Area – the waters under the jurisdiction of the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CAMLR Convention) – is divided into nine planning domains, based on which marine protected areas (MPAs) can be planned and managed under the Antarctic Treaty System (ATS). The Convention is overseen by the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR). The specific boundaries of the current planning domains were defined during a 2011 CCAMLR workshop, although the South Orkney MPA was established beforehand in 2009. According to CCAMLR, “the planning domains are intended to reflect the scale and location of current and planned research efforts.” Although CCAMLR and its Scientific Committee often discuss the planning, reporting, and auditing of Antarctic MPAs under the framework of the planning domain divisions, the boundaries of these domains do not necessarily restrict or confine the limits of MPA-related proposals, research activities, or other works.
Sources:
“MPA planning domains,” Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (last accessed 19 January 2022).
“Report of the Workshop on Marine Protected Areas,” SC-CAMLR-XXX/06, Brest, France, 29 August to 2 September 2011.
Marine Protected Areas
Marine Protected Areas (MPA) are maritime zones established to safeguard all or part of the area’s natural resources, typically prohibiting or limiting specific activities, such as fishing. MPAs are usually multi-purpose zones and might be established to conserve, protect and monitor particular species, habitats, and ecosystems or for fisheries management.
Under the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR Convention), the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) agrees to establish MPAs as well as adopting and revising conservation measures “based on the best available science.” MPA proposals are reviewed by CCAMLR’s Scientific Committee and decided by a representative system.
Two MPAs have been established in Antarctica. The South Orkney Islands southern shelf MPA, proposed by the United Kingdom in 2009, is the first CCAMLR MPA and the world’s first international MPA. The Ross Sea region MPA, initially proposed by the United States and New Zealand in 2012, came into force on 1 December 2017. Currently, three MPA proposals are under discussion by CCAMLR. Only active MPAs have been displayed on these maps.
Sources:
“Marine Protected Areas (MPAs),” Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (last accessed 19 January 2022).
“Marine Protected Areas,” CCAMLR MPA Information Repository (last accessed 19 January 2022).
Fishing Areas, Subareas, and Divisions
Major Fishing Areas are established by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) to facilitate statistical-gathering, global fisheries management, and the corresponding coordination among international fishery agencies. Three Major Fishing Areas are introduced in the waters under the jurisdiction of the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CAMLR Convention): Area 48 (Atlantic, Antarctic), Area 58 (the Antarctic and Southern Indian Ocean), and Area 88 (Pacific, Antarctic). These Major Fishing Areas are further divided into subareas and divisions for more precise management. Many of the boundaries of these areas overlap with those of the MPA Planning Domains in Antarctica, but the two are far from identical.
The Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) manages fisheries in the CCAMLR Convention area using an “ecosystem-based and precautionary approach.” Catch limits are imposed in certain subareas and divisions and currently focus on four species: Patagonian toothfish (Dissostichus eleginoides), Antarctic toothfish (Dissostichus mawsoni), mackerel icefish (Champsocephalus gunnari), and Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba). Vessels in the area are required to report catch and effort data to CCAMLR.
Sources:
“FAO Major Fishing Areas,” the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (last accessed 19 January 2022).
“Fisheries,” Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (last accessed 19 January 2022).
CCAMLR MPAs and Research Zones
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Disclaimer
In areas where sovereignty or sovereign rights are in dispute, we show the claims of each party based on the best publicly available information. GIS data were sourced and adapted from CCAMLR's data repository under a Public Domain license. ICAS emphasizes that these maps are not to be taken as an endorsement of any one party's respective claims over another's.