Antarctic's future in doubt after plan for world's biggest marine reserve is blocked

Environmental groups say Russia, China and Norway played part in rejecting plan

Matthew TaylorEnvironment correspondent

Fri 2 Nov 2018 17.16 GMTFirst published on Fri 2 Nov 2018 14.55 GMT

A plan to turn a huge tract of pristine Antarctic ocean into the world’s biggest sanctuary has been rejected, throwing the future of one of the Earth’s most important ecosystems into doubt.

Environmental groups said Russia, China and Norway had played a part in blocking the proposal, with the other 22 members of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources, the organisation set up to protect Antarctic waters, backing the proposal.

The 1.8m sq km reserve – five times the size of Germany – would have banned all fishing in a vast area of the Weddell Sea and parts of the Antarctic peninsula, safeguarding species including penguins, killer whales, leopard seals and blue whales.

Experts said it would also have played a key role in tackling climate change, as the seas around the Antarctic soak up huge amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. But following days of talks in Hobart in Tasmania, the CCAMLR rejected the plan, which needed unanimous agreement to pass.

“This was an historic opportunity to create the largest protected area on earth in the Antarctic: safeguarding wildlife, tackling climate change and improving the health of our global oceans,” said Frida Bengtsson of Greenpeace’s Protect the Antarctic campaign.

Continued

Ascension Island to become marine reserve

By Roger Harrabin

BBC environment analyst

3 January 2016 

From the sectionUK

Image captionThe government is to create a marine reserve almost as big as the UK in the Atlantic waters of Ascension Island.

Just over half of the protected area will be closed to fishing.

The fishery in the other half will be policed under a grant of £300,000 from the Louis Bacon Foundation, a charitable body.

It is the latest marine reserve to be declared around remote islands, which will increase marine conservation zones to about 2% of the ocean.

That remains a far cry from the 30% recommended by scientists to preserve species and expand fish stocks, but is much more than just a few years ago.

Governments have designated marine parks at Palau in the North Pacific, Easter Island and Pitcairn in the South Pacific, and New Zealand's Kermadec islands, in what has become a landmark year for ocean conservation.

The latest reserve at Ascension Island is said to hold some of the largest marlin in the world, one of the largest populations of green turtles, big colonies of tropical seabirds and the island's own unique frigate bird.

Conservation commitment

The reserve totals 234,291 sq km, slightly less than the size of the United Kingdom. It could be ready for formal designation as soon as 2017, once further data has been collected and analysed.

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Fiji Marine reserve ‘swarming with sharks’

Study by WCS and University of Western Australia finds reef sharks two to four times more abundant in a marine reserve compared to nearby fished areas

July 2013. Fiji's largest marine reserve contains more sharks than surrounding areas that allow fishing, evidence that marine protected areas can be good for sharks, according to researchers from the Wildlife Conservation Society and the University of Western Australia.

2-400% more sharks

In a study of the no-take reserve's shark populations, the researchers found that the number of sharks in Namena Reserve-located on the southern coast of Fiji's Vanua Levu Island-is two to four times greater than in adjacent areas where fishing is permitted.

The researchers conducted their study during a three-week period in 2009 in Namena, a 60-square-kilometer reserve established in 1997 and managed by local communities. In order to survey the sharks, Goetze and the WCS Fiji team used stereo baited remote underwater video systems to record data at eight sites within the reserve and eight outside the reserve at both shallow and deeper depths (between 5-8 metres, and 25-30 metres respectively).

"The study not only provides evidence that Fiji's largest marine reserve benefits reef sharks, but achieves this in a non-destructive manner using novel stereo video technology," said Goetze, the lead author of the paper.

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Tawharanui Marine Reserve officially declared in New Zealand

More protection needed for New Zealand's marine environment
August 2011. Forest & Bird have welcomed the upcoming official opening of the Tawharanui Marine Reserve north of Auckland but warned it was a drop in the ocean compared with what is needed to give adequate protection to New Zealand's marine life.

Conservation Minister Kate Wilkinson opened the Tawharanui Marine Reserve north of Auckland following many years of campaigning by the Auckland Regional Council (now the Auckland Council) and local groups for the reserve.

"There has been a no-take zone in the marine park at Tawharanui since 1981 - so there will be no practical change to the level of protection, but changing its status to a reserve will make the rules clearer to everyone," Forest & Bird's marine advocate Katrina Subedar said.

less than 1% oz NZ marine environment is protected
"We welcome the opening but we have to remember less than one percent of New Zealand's marine environment within our exclusive economic zone (EEZ) is fully protected," she said.

This compares with the Department of Conservation's control of around a third of New Zealand's landmass.

New environmental controls
The recent release of proposed legislation to provide some environmental controls on mining and oil drilling in the waters of New Zealand's EEZ and the wider continental shelf highlights the need for more areas to be given full protection as the pressure for development increases.

Kermadec Islands
A marine reserve in the territorial waters around the Kermadec Islands must be expanded to ensure the protection of the stunning biodiversity in those waters, Katrina Subedar said.

Forest & Bird supports the creation of reserves because they give marine life a haven free from threats such as overfishing, damaging fishing methods and coastline development. Nothing is allowed to be taken from marine reserves, although diving, swimming, boating, and any other activities that don't harm marine life are permitted.

A survey released by WWF-New Zealand in May showed most New Zealanders don't realise how little of our marine environment is protected and it also highlighted they want more protection. Forest & Bird believes at least 30 percent of should be fully protected to ensure the health of our marine environment.

The government has frozen the process to develop a network of marine protected areas around New Zealand, meaning that the vast majority our seas are not being systematically assessed for protection.

New proposal
Forest & Bird is supporting an alternative Maori-led initiative to set up a rahui tapu at the Mimiwhangata Marine Park in Northland. A rahui tapu would create a no-take area. This would be jointly administered by the local hapu and community, to restore fish and other life to the degraded waters around Mimiwhangata, Katrina Subedar said.

Read about Tawharanui Open Sanctuary

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/Tawharanui-Marine-Reserve.html#cr