Finding the ‘Conservation’ in the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources

Abstract

The Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) was adopted in the 1980s amid concerns of a growth in unregulated fishing in the region. The Convention’s objective – ‘the conservation of Antarctic marine living resources’ – reflects the negotiators’ intention for CCAMLR’s responsibilities to extend beyond fisheries responsibilities to the conservation of all species and marine ecosystems in the Convention’s area. The intention of CCAMLR’s objective has generated significant debate throughout CCAMLR’s 39 years of operation, and there appears to be no common agreed understanding. A review of management measures adopted by the Commission is one method for considering how the Commission has approached delivering its objective. This paper reviews management measures in force from 1982 to 2019 and concludes that, while CCAMLR has made significant advances regarding the delivery of ecosystem-based and precautionary fisheries management, it has generated significantly fewer management measures that might stand independently of fisheries management or extend to species or habitats not directly impacted by fishing operations.