This paper highlights the urgent need for coordinated surveillance, response, and policy action to address the spread of high-pathogenicity avian influenza (HPAI H5) in the Southern Ocean region. The recent incursion of HPAI into mainland Antarctica and associated mass mortality events among seabirds and marine mammals present a direct threat to the objectives of the Convention, particularly the conservation of Antarctic marine living resources. Informed by a recent scientific publication (Conservation Biology, 2025; e70052), the paper underscores the risk of ecosystem-level impacts and long-term population declines.
Recommendations for actions by CCAMLR:
- Step up science: strengthen wildlife health surveillance across CCAMLR regions through enhanced collaboration with SCAR, COMNAP, IAATO, ACAP and national programs. Encourage integration of disease-related data into CEMP and other longterm ecological research to improve early warning systems and inform ecosystem-based management.
- Step up protection: recognise disease threats as additional stressors on Antarctic biodiversity. Support spatial protection and site-based contingency planning, particularly in areas of high wildlife aggregation and conservation concern.
- Step up precaution: promote the incorporation of disease risk in decision-making related to fisheries, tourism, and research activities. Apply a precautionary approach to management responses where HPAI may amplify ecosystem vulnerability.
These are the suggested points for strengthening CCAMLR’s capacity to respond to emerging wildlife disease threats. In time, they will help ensure that conservation objectives are upheld in a rapidly changing ecological and epidemiological context.