Date of Award

1985

Degree Type

Major Paper

Degree Name

Master of Arts in Marine Affairs

Abstract

Interest in the development of a commercial fishery for Antarctic krill, the lack of a legal regime to govern and promote rational exploitation of Antarctic living resources, and a desire to avoid future conflicts between claimants and non-claimants regarding the control of an Antarctic marine fishery, as well as the desire to set a precedent for management and exploitation of non-living resources were incentives for the negotiation of the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic marine Living Resources (CCAMLR). Furthermore, the Antarctic Treaty Consultative parties wished to maintain and solidify their control and enhance their collective legitimacy in the Antarctic region. Concomitantly, the Treaty group wished to avoid the potential threat of interference from the rest of the international community. The objectives of this paper are to define the Antarctic species of potential commercial interest, to discuss the biology of Antarctic krill, Euphausia superba, to evaluate the impact of a commercial krill fishery on the Antarctic ecosystem, to evaluate and analyze the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) and, to determine whether the convention can obtain the goal of ecosystem management-allowing for "rational utilization" while protecting krill-dependent species in Antarctica.

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