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Seeing this headline is like a breath of fresh air during a time of ongoing international conflict. If that biosphere is as rich and diverse as they say it is, then it must be important to protect it before the 2020 Paris Agreement.
Photos: The amazing creatures of the world's newest marine protected area in Antarctica's Ross Sea Quartz
The Marine Reserve will permit some harvesting of krill for scientific research, and will stop fishing effective this December. According to Wikipedia, the Ross Sea is situated between Victoria Land and Marie Byrd Land.
Is this just international housekeeping, by the Antarctic Treaty System, and/or will it cause greater cooperation among presently cultivating animosity toward one another?
Nations Agree To Establish World's Largest Marine Reserve In Antarctica : The Two-Way : NPR
Twenty-four countries and the European Union reached the unanimous deal at an international meeting of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources in Hobart, Australia on Friday.
"The Ross Sea is widely considered to be the last great wilderness area on Earth and known as the polar 'Garden of Eden'," according to a statement from the United Nations Environment Programme. The area is home to "50 per cent of ecotype-C killer whales (also known as the Ross Sea orca), 40 per cent of Adélie penguins, and 25 per cent of emperor penguins."
Photos: The amazing creatures of the world's newest marine protected area in Antarctica's Ross Sea Quartz
The Marine Reserve will permit some harvesting of krill for scientific research, and will stop fishing effective this December. According to Wikipedia, the Ross Sea is situated between Victoria Land and Marie Byrd Land.
But the Ross Sea sanctuary is only the second-ever marine protected area on the high seas, according to the CCAMLR. The first was established in the South Orkney Islands in 2009 and covered 58,000 square miles in the south Atlantic.
The agreement will come into force in December. Seventy-two percent of the sanctuary "will be a 'no-take zone, which forbids all fishing, while other sections will permit some harvesting of fish and krill for scientific research," the CCAMLR says.
Scientists will be able to compare the impact of areas closed to fishing with other areas where fishing is allowed, according to the CCAMLR. "This enables scientists to research the relative impacts of fishing and other changes, such as those arising from climate change," and "can help our understanding of the range of variables affecting the overall status and health of marine ecosystems."
Is this just international housekeeping, by the Antarctic Treaty System, and/or will it cause greater cooperation among presently cultivating animosity toward one another?
Nations Agree To Establish World's Largest Marine Reserve In Antarctica : The Two-Way : NPR