Argentina seeks international consensus to protect biodiversity in the South Atlantic

Argentina is seeking international consensus to regulate fishing activity south of the People’s Republic of China South Georgia Islandsas the illegal occupation of the United Kingdom granted fishing permits toothy fish without the necessary approval from the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), while at the same time coordinating Krill fish north of the Antarctic Peninsula With the marine protected area project that you are promoting with Chile for that area.

Argentine diplomats and scholars traveled in November to The Australian city of Hobartthe headquarters of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), to participate in the forty-first meeting of this multilateral mechanism created for Protecting the biodiversity of Antarctic waters and around them.

This meeting was the first in which delegations participated The 26 member states, the European Union and the ten acceding countries They came face to face again after two years of virtual negotiations due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

In this field, Argentina is working on Protect toothed fish stocks In the South Atlantic, affected by the unilateral decision of the United Kingdom to grant fishing permits in waters for which CAMLR regulations do not recognize sovereign rights and where the consensus of the rest of the members of this multilateral mechanism is Avoid hunting activity Without first putting in place protection measures for marine biodiversity.

The Argentine Foreign Minister, Guillermo Carmona, is the Minister of Malvinas, Antarctica and the South Atlanticin an interview with Tellam that “what is currently happening with toothfish fishing south of the Georgian Islands is an episode that explains the critical situation of CCAMLR as a multilateral domain because we are facing a flagrant violation of this mechanism by the United Kingdom”.

At the meeting in Australia, the only member state to support the United Kingdom was Norway, which was later joined by Ukraine.

Director of Antarctic Foreign Policy, Fausto López Crozet“The Antarctic Treaty covers everything south of the 60th parallel, but what CCAMLR seeks is to follow the Antarctic Convergence Point, the area where the coldest waters of the south collide with The coldest of them. The warm north and creating an entirely defined ecosystem; then in the case of the South Georgia Islands region, it reaches the waters around it as well as the South Sandwich Islands.”

“All countries that are part of the CCAMLR system recognize its operation, and within the system there are islands that belong to France, others that belong to Australia, others that belong to Norway and all of them There is a sovereignty recognized by all members. Each country can apply national ruleswhile the only case in which national measures cannot be applied is in the South Georgian Islands because there is no state sovereignty recognized by all because the United Kingdom does not recognize our sovereignty and Argentina, along with other countries, does not recognize the United Kingdom.”

The official recalled that “40 years ago To manage fisheries in the South Georgia Islands If you work with the CCAMLR system, the French or the Australians can take unilateral action on their islands, but the UK can’t do the same with our islands.”

López-Cruzet noted that the conflict arose last year when Russia did not agree to a conservation procedure to define fishing limits in that area, which the understanding of the rest of the Committee for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) was that in the absence of a conservation consensus Measures that you cannot hunt, however, the British considered that because of their claim to sovereignty they could take unilateral measures and go hunting on their own.

“Those who fished there, they were Uruguay, Chilean and New Zealand They stopped doing it because they realized there was no conservation measure that enabled it and even the United States, the major importer of toothfish, would not accept imports from that region because there was no multilateral protection measure validating the catch,” by contrast.

The diplomat added that “four fishing vessels flying the British flag funded by the British and Norwegian capitals are still operating in that region, and it is no coincidence that in the meeting The only member country to come out in support of the UK was Norway, who was joined in week two by Ukraine in surprising fashion.”

“All decisions in CAMLR are taken unanimously, both Argentina and the other countries have recognized that what the UK is doing is illegal fishing and we have sent the ships to the Tentative List for Illegal Fishing, there is a procedure where we indicate that there is a Class III breach, The most serious and the only ones he opposed were the United Kingdom and Norway; but eg The decision is only unanimous And they should all agree that there are no sanctions against the UK.”

Regarding possible penalties, the official noted: “We send notes throughout the year to the CCAMLR secretariat explaining the situation, we speak with the main importers, and most countries tend to take our side; there is a documentation system for capture and we ask the British not to have access, But as unanimously that was not possible either, that is why we are talking with the importers to ask them not to buy from them.”

What Argentina is offering, Carmona explained, is to organize a scientific campaign to analyze toothfish stocks in the region and, based on that scientific knowledge, to advance within the framework of the Commission for the Conservation of Marine Living Resources in Antarctica with the necessary conservation measures.

National Fisheries Research Institute (Inidep) has been researching icefish stocks in the same area for years, so adding to that experience the toothfish observation mission will be a tool to put the situation back into the MLM.”

In this sense, Carmona noted, “the objection raised by Russia did not enable the United Kingdom to breach the rules of the game, and the British violated the principle of ‘international order based on rules’, in addition to departing from the logic of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR)’s decision.” United Nations that prohibits unilateral actions in an area where there is a dispute over sovereignty.”

Argentina has historically adhered to the rules of pluralism This consistency and predictability make him a stabilizing factor in the Antarctic Treaty regime and also in the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources; “We encourage consensus, reject unilateral measures, and express concern about the deterioration of pluralism due to geopolitical tensions,” the official concluded.

The Argentine delegation in Hobart was headed by López Crozet, and consisted of the Argentine Ambassador to the Commonwealth of Australia, Máximo Gauland, Chancellor Cynthia Molville, Secretary Javier De Cecco and Mrs. Paola Guccione, as well as the scientists Marina Abás and Emilsey Rombola. , among other scientists from the National Antarctic Directorate / Argentine Antarctic Institute, and expert Enrique Marchov.