The international efforts for the protection of the Südpolarmeers to the North of the Antarctic have suffered a setback. A proposal from the EU, in the Weddell sea a more than 1.8 million square kilometre large protected area to set up – five times as large as Germany failed at a conference on the Australian island of Tasmania. According to participants, the plans of Russia and China were blocked. Of the resistance came from.
In Tasmania’s capital, Hobart, the international Commission consults annually on the conservation of Antarctic marine living resources from more than two dozen States treasures. It is responsible for the control of the fisheries, and the designation of protected areas. The proposal for the Weddell sea was also supported by the Bundestag. He will be discussed again next year. It would be the largest marine protected area in the world.
In the field, more than 300,000 of the Emperor penguins life. Also, blue whales, elephant seals, Antarctic fur seals and rare sea birds are at home there. So far, the Weddell sea fishing was largely spared, because large parts are permanently covered by ice. Because of climate change is however expected that fishing fleets come hunting for Krill and hake soon there as well. In the areas further to the North are annually fished hundreds of thousands of tonnes of Krill.
The Weddell sea is the largest of the 14 marginal seas of the Southern ocean on the Antarctic continent. The Name derives from the British sailor James Weddell, who entered in 1823 into the hitherto almost untouched area. The Antarctic is international territory. Many countries have there are a few dozen research stations. In the Antarctic Treaty of 1959 is intended that the area shall be used only for peaceful purposes. Since last year, there is already a protected area, the Ross sea (Ross Sea), which is about four times as large as Germany.
