This paper presents a document written by Dr. Robert (Bob) Hofman and submitted to the 2015 CCAMLR Symposium in Santiago, Chile. Dr. Hofman was a member of the United States delegation during the negotiation of the CAMLR Convention. ASOC has provided some additional background for CCAMLR’s consideration. As a participant in the Convention negotiations, Dr. Hofman has an in-depth understanding of the reasoning behind Article II and other aspects of the Convention. Dr. Hofman notes that that Convention explicitly requires that any harvesting activities only take place if the conditions specified in Article II, paragraph 3 of the Convention are met. Further, the language of Article IX(2)(g) makes clear that area protection is one of the measures that may be used to implement the ecosystem conservation approach. Consequently, the need to “balance” the ecosystem approach and area protection with the management of CCAMLR fisheries did not - and does not - arise. They are in fact integral parts of that management. ASOC emphasizes that to resolve the uncertainties about whether fisheries are being managed in accordance with Article II, CCAMLR should assess how MPAs or other measures could be used as reference areas. This would support a more effective implementation of Article II(3).
This paper has also been submitted by ASOC in Chinese.