The multilateral body charged with regulating fishing and protecting ecosystems in the Southern Ocean reached no agreements on establishing new marine protected areas or adopting new krill-fishing management measures at its recent annual meeting. The 45th meeting of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) took place Oct. 19-30 in Hobart, Australia, bringing together the body’s 27 members: 26 countries and the EU. Months of press conferences, boycott campaigns, lobbying activities and bilateral meetings preceded the event. Attention focused particularly on the potential adoption of a new fisheries management system for Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) and the establishment of a marine protected area in a large swathe of sea, known as Domain 1, between the Antarctic Peninsula and the South Orkney Islands. Domain 1 is where krill fishing is concentrated and also contains important feeding grounds for wildlife populations that rely primarily on the small shrimp-like crustaceans for food. “CCAMLR Members did not reach consensus on either,” Javier Arata, spokesperson for the industry Association of Responsible Krill harvesting companies (ARK), told Mongabay by email, minutes after the meeting closed. “CCAMLR adopted no new measures for the krill fishery this year,” Arata said, adding that members “were closer this year than many expected.” He said his group will keep working with all CCAMLR members, scientists and other interested parties to get both measures adopted in 2027. In response to the lack of progress, several conservation organizations, including the U.S.-based Antarctic Wildlife Alliance, the Our Antarctica campaign and the…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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