The adoption of the Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in the West Antarctic Peninsula (hereafter, D1MPA) can contribute towards the Convention’s objectives in (1) assisting in the revised krill fishery management strategy, and (2) providing climate change resilience and conservation of biodiversity.
In 2018 the CCAMLR Scientific Committee recommended for the first time the need to harmonize the D1MPA proposal with the new krill management strategy (SC-CAMLR-XXXVII 2018, para. 3.30) and in the following years this has been mentioned in several discussions (SC-CAMLR-38, para 2.1), especially during CCAMLR-41(SC-CAMLR-41, paragraph 3.65).
The current context at CCAMLR is an outstanding opportunity to harmonize the D1MPA proposal and the krill management strategy, and both tools could thrive by combining protection and rational use. The D1MPA would act as a mechanism based on the precautionary principle that ensures that unexpected consequences of climate change together with increased krill catch limit are buffered. This document summarizes the main points to be taken into account during the harmonization process.