Why Are MPAs So Important in Antarctica?

Antarctica is one of the most pristine and valuable ecosystems on Earth, home to 10,000 species and playing a critical role in regulating the earth’s climate (read more).

MPAs can protect a wide range of habitats and species, particularly those at risk due to environmental changes, by reducing human activities like fishing and tourism. Antarctica serves as the world’s most important natural laboratory, offering invaluable insights into climate change, marine biology, and ecosystem dynamics. MPAs provide undisturbed areas for scientists to study these processes, helping us understand and mitigate global warming. MPAs also bolster the resilience of marine ecosystems by allowing them to adapt to changing conditions. This resilience is crucial to support biodiversity and maintain carbon sequestration.

Brought together in 1982 as part of the Antarctic Treaty System to protect the Antarctic Sea and manage its resources, CCAMLR’s 27 member states decide which areas can be commercially fished in Antarctica as well as catch quotas for each species, such as toothfish and krill. They’re also responsible for establishing no-catch zones and Marine Protection Areas.

The Commission has already created two MPAs in Antarctica, the 36,000 square mile South Orkney MPA in 2009, and the 430,000 square mile Ross Sea MPA in 2016, the largest protected area in the world. However, scientists believe a network of MPAs are necessary in the Southern Ocean not only to fully protect the region’s inhabitants such as krill, whales, seals, and penguins, but also to fulfill the 2022 United Nations Biodiversity Conference commitment to turn 30% of the earth’s oceans into protected areas by 2030.

The Antarctic Peninsula Marine Protected Area, officially known as Domain 1 MPA (D1MPA), encompasses 670,000 square kilometers of the Western Antarctic Peninsula and South Scotia Arc. It was first presented to the Scientific Committee of CCAMLR in 2017 by member states Argentina and Chile to protect critical habitats and species in the region, particularly in response to the increasing pressures from climate change, krill fishing, and other human activities.

While the D1MPA has strong support from the international community, all CCAMLR decisions must be made by consensus. However, member states Russia and China have vetoed the proposal each year because of their concerns over restrictions on commercial fishing rights, particularly for krill, arguing insufficient scientific evidence to justify the proposed MPAs.

The upcoming Harmonisation Symposium from July 16th-24th represents an important opportunity for members to find common ground ahead of the 43rd annual CCAMLR meeting in Hobart, Australia this October.

The Necessity of the Antarctic Peninsula MPA

The Antarctic Peninsula, particularly the proposed Domain 1 MPA, is a critical area that requires protection due to its unique ecological and environmental significance:

Biodiversity Hotspot: The Antarctic Peninsula and South Scotia Arc host key species such as krill, fish, seabirds, whales, and seals. The proposed MPA covers 250,000 square miles (670,000 square kilometers) of these highly vulnerable ecosystems.

Krill Habitat: Krill are a keystone species in the Antarctic food web, serving as a primary food source for many marine animals including penguins, seals, and whales. Krill also consume surface phytoplankton and algae, sequestering carbon in the ocean depths, thereby creating one of the planet's largest carbon sinks and removing 23 million metric tons of carbon annually. The proposed MPA aims to protect these critical krill habitats, ensuring the stability of the entire ecosystem. Read more about why krill are so important.

Impact of Climate Change: The Antarctic Peninsula is experiencing rapid warming, leading to shrinking ice shelves and warming oceans. These changes negatively impact the krill populations that live on the underside of ice shelves, but also affect birth rates and survival in penguin colonies.

Why Antarctica Can’t Wait Another Year for Protection 

On March 18, 2022, scientists at the Concordia research station in East Antarctica recorded a temperature rise of 38.5C above the seasonal average, the largest jump ever documented at a meteorological center (read more). Antarctica, once thought too cold to be impacted by global warming, is now experiencing rapid ice melt, sea ice loss, and ecological disruptions, including threats to krill populations and emperor penguins. Combined with the warming oceans and acidification, continuing to commercially exploit marine wildlife could be disastrous for the entire Antarctic ecosystem, underscoring the urgent need to establish the Antarctic Peninsula Marine Protected Area (MPA).

Penguin populations are already suffering due to climate change, yet industrial krill trawlers are fishing in the same waters where penguins feed. A 2018 study co-authored by the lead scientist for the US delegation to CCAMLR warned that climate change could reduce krill size by up to 40% in some areas of Antarctica’s Scotia Sea, resulting in a 30% drop in penguin populations.

Although CCAMLR set “precautionary catch limits” in the 1990s to prevent overfishing of krill, many scientists consider these quotas to be outdated (the last survey was in 2006), and inadequately take into account the effects of climate change and the technological advances of the krill-fishing fleet.

As the demand for krill-based Omega-3 supplements and krill meal for farmed salmon has exploded over the past decade into a fast-growing, multi-million-dollar industry, commercial krill trawlers have developed more “efficient” fishing methods, essentially underwater vacuums that suck up massive quantities of krill.

Our encounters with their fleet near the South Orkney Islands in March 2023 exposed these massive supertrawlers dragging their huge nets right through the middle of a mega pod of over 100 fin whales, literally stealing the krill from their mouths (Read the explosive report here).

In 2021 scientists from Stanford already concluded there is no longer enough krill in the Southern Ocean to support recovery of whale populations to pre-whaling numbers, even in the absence of krill fishing. Humpback whales and their young depend on Antarctic krill after their exhausting migration up the Australian coast and back. Yet the krill fishing industry’s extraction rate equals the daily diet of about 150 humpback whales.

With fishing vessels and marine wildlife concentrated in the same Antarctic waters of the proposed MPA, death due to bycatch and ghostnets are inevitable. At least four humpback whales have been killed after being carelessly captured in krill fishing nets since 2022. Last month, rescuers freed an 18-meter humpback whale off the Australian coast entangled in over 800 kilos of rope and fishing buoys dragged all the way from Antarctica (read the article).

It's Time for CCAMLR to Take Action

Last October, the 42nd CCAMLR assembly voted against increasing the Antarctica krill quotas for this year (read more). While this is a huge win, we believe that a catch quota of zero is required to ensure the continued protection of Antarctica.

As they meet again this July for the Harmonisation Symposium, we trust the delegates will listen to the scientists, conservationists, and the concerned citizens of the world calling for more Marine Protected Areas. The Antarctic Peninsula MPA, critical to preserving marine biodiversity, would offer a sanctuary for various species, buffering them from over-exploitation and helping mitigate the impacts of a rapidly changing climate.

How You Can Help

Join Our Krill Market Campaign: Get involved in our grassroots-led initiative to expose and combat the corporations behind krill exploitation. By submitting photos of krill-based products from your local supermarkets and drugstores to our central database, you provide invaluable data that will aid in identifying corporate targets for our campaign.

Spread the Word: As the CCAMLR prepares to meet, your voice is crucial in urging for the creation of the Antarctic Peninsula MPA. Share this message with your friends and family to highlight the devastating impact of krill fishing on the Antarctic ecosystem and the urgent need for protection. Public pressure has proven effective in influencing policy decisions—together, we can push for stronger conservation measures.

Reduce the Demand: By avoiding krill-based supplements, aquaculture feed, pet food, and cosmetics, you are not only protecting the primary food source for whales, penguins, and seals in Antarctica but also helping to mitigate climate change by preserving one of the planet's largest carbon sinks.