The critically important Southern Ocean is not being properly protected by its stewards, a distinguished group of scientists from around the globe have noted.
The critically important Southern Ocean is not being properly protected by its stewards, a distinguished group of scientists from around the globe have noted.
The Southern Ocean has immense global value, for its ability to regulate global ocean temperature, moderate sea levels, and store carbon, as well as the fundamental role its marine native species play in the food web, feeding marine mammals, seabirds, and fish. However, in a new paper, a group of scientists including UBC researchers say the members of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCLAMR) and other nations of the world are not protecting it well enough.
“With no Indigenous Peoples in Antarctica, and no local fishing communities, exploitation of the waters surrounding Antarctica has always been the result of industrial distant water activities,” said lead author Dr. Cassandra Brooks, professor of environmental studies at the University of Colorado Boulder. “Species such as toothfish, the region’s top fish predator, Antarctic krill, and mackerel are being overexploited by fishers, to the detriment of the Southern Ocean ecosystem, including local fauna, such as whales and native seabirds.” Dr. Brooks pointed to direct competition between the krill fishery, which, in 2021, killed three juvenile humpback whales, along with 16 seals, and 59 seabirds over the last two seasons.
Read more at: The University of British Columbia
Photo Credit: David Mark via Pixabay
