A marine sanctuary of 1.55 million square kilometers, protected from human activities, will be created in Antarctica, in the Ross Sea, known as the last ocean on the importance of its preservation. Restrict or completely prohibit certain activities in order to meet specific management objectives, habitat protection, ecosystem monitoring, and management of fisheries.
The marine sanctuary in the world is located in the clear waters of Antarctica, under a historic agreement achieved in Australia thanks to the lifting of the veto of Russia.
After years of negotiations, a consensus among the 25 members of the Commission for the Conservation of Wildlife and Marine Flora in the Antarctic (CCAMLR), during the maintained annual meeting in Hobart on the Australian island state of Tasmania was reached , according to the Commission in a statement.
Presented by the United States and New Zealand, the project will create a protected area in the Ross Sea, a huge bay on the Pacific coast known as “the last ocean” because of the importance of preservation area.
Will cover an area of 1.55 million square kilometers, an area larger than the bringing together France, Italy, Benelux, Germany, Switzerland and Austria together. In total, 1.12 million square kilometers will be banned for fishing, according to the New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCully.
The protected (AMP) in the Ross Sea marine area comes into force in December 2017. Restrict or completely prohibit certain activities in order to meet specific management objectives, habitat protection, ecosystem monitoring, and management of fisheries.
Seventy-two percent of the AMP is an area ‘closed’ in which all fishing activities shall be prohibited, permitted in other areas fishing for fish and krill for scientific research.
The Scientific Committee of CCAMLR endorsed for the first time the scientific basis of the proposals for the Ross Sea region presented by EU and New Zealand in 2011. Then, invited the Commission to consider the proposals and provide advice on how to improve and advance them.
Each year, from 2012 to 2015, they were improving scientific information on which the proposal is based and specific details such as the exact geographical boundaries of the MPA.
The details of the implementation of the MPA will be negotiated during the development of a specific plan for monitoring and evaluation. The delegations of the United States and New Zealand lead the coordination.
