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Stronger Antarctic leadership is urgently needed to safeguard the Southern Ocean—and beyond.

 of the world’s oceans fall outside national jurisdictions – they belong to no one and everyone.

These international waters, known as the high seas, harbour a plethora of natural resources and millions of unique marine species.

But they are being  irretrievably.  shows unsustainable fisheries are one of the greatest threats to marine biodiversity in the high seas.

According to a 2019  on biodiversity and ecosystem services, 66% of the world’s oceans are experiencing detrimental and increasing cumulative impacts from human activities.

In the high seas, human activities are regulated by a patchwork of international legal agreements under the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (). But this piecemeal approach is failing to safeguard the ecosystems .

At the top of the page: John B. Weller, Author provided. Above: Currently, the world’s largest marine protected area is in the Ross Sea region off Antarctica. Natasha Gardiner, CC BY-ND

Empty pledges

A decade ago, world leaders updated an earlier pledge to establish a network of marine protected areas () with a mandate to protect 10% of the world’s oceans by 2020.

But MPAs cover only of the ocean across the globe. Most protected sites are in national waters where it’s easy to implement and manage protection under the provision of a single country.

In the more remote areas of the high seas, only 1.18% of marine ecosystems have been gifted sanctuary.

The Southern Ocean accounts for a large portion of this meagre percentage, hosting two MPAs. The covers 94,000 square kilometres, while the Ross Sea region MPA stretches across more than 2 million square kilometres, making it the largest in the world.

The Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources () is responsible for this achievement. Unlike other international fisheries management bodies, the commission’s legal allows for the closing of marine areas for conservation purposes.

A comparable mandate for MPAs in other areas of the high seas has been nowhere in sight — until now.

CCAMLR’s two established MPAs (in grey) are the South Orkney Islands southern shelf MPA and the Ross Sea region MPA. Three proposed MPAs (hashed) include the East Antarctic, Domain 1 and Weddell Sea proposals. C. Brooks, 

A new ocean treaty

In 2017, the UN started negotiations towards a new comprehensive for the high seas. The treaty aims to improve the conservation and sustainable use of marine organisms in areas beyond national jurisdiction. It would also implement a global legal mechanism to establish MPAs in international waters.

This innovative international agreement provides an to work across institutional boundaries towards comprehensive high seas governance and protection. It is crucial to use lessons drawn from existing high seas marine protection initiatives, such as those in the Southern Ocean, to inform the treaty’s development.

The final round of treaty negotiations is pending, delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic, and significant detail within the treaty’s remains undeveloped and open for further debate.

Lessons from Southern Ocean management

CCAMLR comprises 26 member states (including the European Union) and meets annually to make conservation-based decisions by unanimous consensus. In 2002, the commission committed to establishing a representative network of MPAs in Antarctica in alignment with globally agreed targets for the world’s oceans.

The two established MPAs in the high seas are far from an . In October 2020, the commission continued negotiations for three additional MPAs, which would meet the 10% target for the Southern Ocean, if agreed.

But not a single proposal was agreed. For one of the proposals, the East Antarctic MPA, this marks the of failed negotiations.

Fisheries interests from a select few nations, combined with , are thwarting progress towards in the Antarctic.

CCAMLR’s progress towards its commitment for a representative MPA network may have ground to a halt, but the commission has gained about the challenges in establishing MPAs in international waters. CCAMLR has demonstrated that with an effective convention and , MPAs in the high seas are possible.

The commission understands the extent to which must inform MPA proposals and how to navigate inevitable between conservation and economic interests. Such knowledge is important for the UN treaty process.

As the high seas treaty moves closer to adoption, it stands to outpace the commission regarding progress towards improved marine conservation. Already, have identified high-priority areas for protection in the high seas, including in Antarctica.

Many cross the Southern Ocean boundary into other regions. This makes it even more important for CCAMLR to integrate its management across regional fisheries organisations – and the new treaty could facilitate this engagement.

But the window of time is closing with only one round of negotiation left for the UN treaty. tells us Antarctic decision-makers need to use the opportunity to ensure the treaty supports marine protection commitments.

Stronger Antarctic leadership is urgently needed to safeguard the Southern Ocean — and beyond.

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