November 1, 2013 — Efforts to create the world’s largest marine sanctuary in the Antarctic Ocean have failed for the second time in two years after nations with major fishing industries, led by Russia, blocked any consensus, according to news reports Friday.
The failure by the 25-member Commission for Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources to reach an agreement after a 10-day meeting in Hobart, Australia, freezes the effort to protect millions of square miles of ocean in the Ross Sea and the East Antarctic Coast until October 2014, when delegates will try again.
"It's very frustrating for most members," Swedish delegate Bo Fernholm told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. "I think most members were here and thought that we would be able to get the [marine protected areas], at least one this time."
A proposal originally drafted last year by an international NGO called the Antarctic Oceans Alliance and backed by the United States and New Zealand would have set aside 1.4 million square miles of waters, split among 19 areas scattered around Antarctica's periphery. The plan would have doubled the area of protected oceans worldwide and prevented fishing and mineral exploration in those ecosystems, which are home to nearly 10,000 unique species, including Adelié and emperor penguins, colossal squid, Weddell seals, and others.
Read the full story at the Christian Science Monitor