Introducing CCAMLR
Krill
Photo: Steve Brookes | The Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) came into force in 1982 and forms an important part of the Antarctic Treaty System. Its work also complements the Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses & Petrels - ACAP.
Established under the Convention, the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) manages living marine resources in the Convention Area - Map.
Australia's primary goal within CCAMLR is to ensure the conservation of the marine living resources within the CCAMLR Area. An important related goal is to enhance Australia's influence in the Antarctic Treaty System and maintain Australia's reputation as a responsible manager of marine resources.
The Convention's sole objective is the "conservation of Antarctic marine living resources". Importantly, the Convention requires that the conservation of Antarctic marine living resources and decisions about their rational use must be based on an ecosystem approach to managing such resources. Unlike other fisheries agreements that focus only on the status of the commercial target species, CCAMLR requires that consideration be given to all species in the ecosystem and to conserving ecological relationships. This was a very far-sighted and unprecedented approach at the time the Convention was negotiated.
The Convention defines three principles of conservation with which any harvesting activities must accord; these are:
- prevention of decrease in the size of any harvested population to levels below those which ensure its stable recruitment;
- maintenance of the ecological relationships between harvested, dependent and related populations and the restoration of depleted populations; and
- prevention of changes or minimisation of the risk of changes in the marine ecosystem which are not potentially reversible over two or three decades.
Subantarctuc fur seal pup(Arctocephalus tropicalis)
Photo: Barbara Wienecke |
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