ASOC
Hobart, Australia, 31 October 2025.
After two weeks of negotiations in Hobart, the 44th annual meeting of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) closed today with little progress toward long-delayed goals to protect the Southern Ocean. Yet a powerful message emerged: a growing group of Members are standing strong for the protection of Antarctica, refusing to bow to pressure to expand industrial fishing in one of the planet’s most fragile ecosystems.
“This year, conservation-minded countries showed that the future of Antarctica cannot be dictated by those who put fishing before protection,” said Claire Christian, Executive Director of the Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition (ASOC). “Key proponents refused to compromise on science, stood united in defense of marine life, and sent a clear signal that CCAMLR’s founding purpose of conservation must come first.”
A strong show of unity from Chile, Argentina, the European Union and its Member States, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea, and other Members, successfully resisted attempts to expand krill fishing in predator-rich areas without safeguards for penguins, seals, and whales.
At the heart of the meeting were two intertwined issues: the proposed marine protected area (MPA) for the Antarctic Peninsula and the management of the krill fishery that overlaps much of the same waters. For years, Members worked to align these efforts, recognizing that protecting habitat and managing harvests must go hand in hand. But this year, a small number of Members pushed to decouple the discussions, attempting to separate fisheries expansion from marine protection.
“You can’t claim to manage krill sustainably while ignoring the penguins, whales, and seals that depend on it,” said Emily Grilly, Ocean Conservation Manager at WWF-Australia. “The science is clear: healthy predator populations rely on healthy krill populations. Preserving this delicate ecosystem balance requires both robust, precautionary management and designation of protected areas.”
The proposed Antarctic Peninsula MPA, led by Chile and Argentina and supported by more than 150 scientific studies, remains one of four protection proposals awaiting adoption. Together with existing protections, these would safeguard 26% of the Southern Ocean, nearly 3% of the global ocean.
While the meeting ended without adoption, observers said it marked a turning point. The growing alignment among conservation-oriented Members shows increasing global resolve to bring CCAMLR back in step with the world’s ocean protection commitments, in line with the recently ratified High Seas Treaty and the global target to protect 30% of the ocean by 2030.
CCAMLR also missed a key opportunity to protect vulnerable seafloor habitats, with two Members rejecting the designation of a new Vulnerable Marine Ecosystem (VME) despite clear video evidence of fragile bottom-dwelling species. Similar evidence has been used in the past to approve 11 other sites, leaving observers questioning the inconsistency.
Moreover, evidence of the dramatic impacts of climate change on the Antarctic environment was discussed but failed to result in significant action. Although CCAMLR had previously agreed to include climate change in all areas of its work, it has been slow to adopt meaningful protections for threatened Antarctic ecosystems.
“Antarctica is warming faster than almost anywhere else on Earth, yet CCAMLR continues to treat climate change as an afterthought,” said Eunhee Kim, Executive Director of the Climate Ocean Research Institute. “Acting on the alarming evidence of Antarctic climate change is essential to ensuring the resilience of Antarctic ecosystems.”
One positive outcome came in the form of new rules on transshipment — the practice of transferring of people, materials, or fisheries catches between vessels at sea. CCAMLR Members agreed to require all vessels to be publicly listed, a long-awaited step toward transparency to bring CCAMLR in line with global best practices.
“While the rest of the world is advancing bold new commitments to protect the ocean, CCAMLR remains at a standstill,” said Christian. “The determination shown by many countries this year proves that change is possible. But without real action, this once-pioneering body risks being left behind by global momentum.”
NOTES TO EDITORS
- CCAMLR is the international body responsible for the conservation of Antarctic marine ecosystems and the management of fishing in the Southern Ocean.
- The Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition (ASOC) is a coalition of conservation organizations from around the world that defends the integrity of Antarctic and Southern Ocean ecosystems from encroaching human activities. Its mission is to protect the Antarctic and Southern Ocean’s unique and vulnerable ecosystems by providing the unified voice of the NGO community.
- For more information, please read Protecting a Changing Southern Ocean
SPOKESPEOPLE
The following people are available for interviews upon request:
- Claire Christian, ASOC Executive Director
- Holly Parker Curry, Director of the ASOC’s Marine Protected Areas Campaign
- Nicholas Kirkham, Officer, Pew Bertarelli Ocean Legacy
MEDIA CONTACTS
Patricia Roy (English, Spanish, and French) [email protected], +34 696 905 907
Meike Schuetzek (German) [email protected], +49 17682797897
Karen Rauch (Latin American region) [email protected], +56 9 6735 4769
Alissa Skelton (English, US) [email protected], +1 202 891 8938
