Part III: Antarctica and Academe - Scott Polar Research Institute

Consultative Meeting a Recommendation on environmental impact assessment
requirements was agreed.
These and other arrangements under the Antarctic Treaty could not give
protection to seals in the sea or on floating ice, because the treaty expressly
reserves the rights of states on the high seas. So separate agreement was needed
and in l972 a Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Seals (CCAS) was
concluded; it entered into force in l978. SCAR had a role in its drafting and -
uniquely for a non-governmental organization in respect of an international treaty
- a specific continuing responsibility as an independent international source of
advice. This convention applies to the seas south of 60√S, with provision for
reporting of catches made in the pack ice to the north of this latitude. It is
complementary to the "Agreed Measures" and applies to six species of seals and
fur seals. An Annex specifies measures for conservation, scientific study and
rational and humane use of seal resources and these measures may be amended.
Permissible annual catches are specified in the Annex, deliberately set at low
levels. Ross seals, elephant seals and fur seals are specially protected and there
are closed seasons for all species. Several Seal Reserves are designated where
killing or capture is forbidden and of six defined circumpolar sealing areas one is
closed to sealing each year in rotation. There is provision for an annual exchange
of information and for actions to be taken when an industry has started. SCAR
was invited to assess the information received, encourage exchange of data,
recommend research programmes and data to be collected, suggest amendments
to the Annex and to report on certain consequences of sealing. Provision is made
for action should commercial sealing reach significant proportions. No industry
has developed and there are no known seal conservation problems in the
Antarctic apart from the adverse effects of the fur seal population explosion -
resulting from protection - on terrestrial environments and the unexplained
decline in elephant seal populations in the Indian Ocean sector. This convention
has been very successful and is a good example of a conservation agreement
concluded before problems have developed. Its operation was reviewed at an
intergovernmental meeting in September l988.
Overfishing of Antarctic fish, the expanding catch of krill and potential
development of a squid fishery present the most important current problems.
Any significant catch of krill would also affect the populations of krill predators
and it is no longer sufficient to consider krill and its consumers as a series of
separate species and to ignore the interactions between them. A new theory of
multi-species resource management needs to be developed and applied as a
strategy. Following the example of CCAS a Convention for the Conservation of
Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) was concluded in l980 and came
into force in l982. Its objective is the conservation (including rational use) of all
Antarctic marine living resources and it applies to waters south of the Antarctic
Convergence (Antarctic Polar Front). Harvesting and associated activities are to
be applied in accordance with stated conservation principles: no harvested
population to be allowed to decrease to levels below those which ensure its stable
recruitment; ecological relationships between harvested, dependent and related
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