What the UK can achieve for Antarctica
An opinion piece by Genevieve Pons and Pascal Lamy
As the country prepares to chair the latest round of CCAMLR meetings, marine protection is very much on the table.
Antarctica’s krill, a shrimp-like crustacean with a biomass so large it constitutes a globally important carbon sink and climate change buffer, provides over 95 per cent of the calories consumed by the icy region’s whales, seals, penguins and seabirds.
But growing fishing pressure on the species, a rich source of omega-3 primarily used as feed in aquaculture, has raised alarms about the impact on the health of the overall marine ecosystem.
In early August, with three months still left in the fishing season, the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) was forced to implement a closure for the first time ever.
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