The government of Argentina has requested the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) place several U.K. fishing boats on its list of vessels that engage in illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing.
Earlier in 2022, the U.K. issued licenses authorizing fishing for Chilean sea bass off the coast of South Georgia, a remote, uninhabited U.K.-controlled island around 1,400 kilometers east of the Falkland Islands. As a result, for the first time since governments banded together 40 years ago to protect marine life near the South Pole, the Chilean sea bass fishery is proceeding this season without any catch limit from the 26-member Commission on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), the regional fishery management organization that oversees the deep-sea fishery.
“British-flagged fishing vessels are operating illegally in the waters surrounding the South Georgia Islands, with illegitimate licenses issued by the United Kingdom, and outside the multilateral framework that governs fishing in that area,” a 24 June statement from the Argentina Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade said.
Since CCAMLR was unable to adopt a measure permitting fishing for Chilean sea bass – also known as Patagonia toothfish – for the current season, the U.K.’s unilateral decision to permit fishing around South Georgia “is therefore in violation of the CCAMLR regime that for 40 years managed to prevent overfishing and the collapse of the Antarctic marine ecosystem.”
“Argentina categorically rejected, bilaterally and multilaterally, these unilateral measures by the United Kingdom, which constitute a serious breach of the rules of the Antarctic treaty system,” it said.
Additionally, Argentina has “urged” the 26 members of CCAMLR to “avoid marketing the product of such illegal fishing.” And it has petitioned the CCAMLR Executive Secretary to include the British-flagged vessels fishing in the South Georgia area for Chilean sea bass on its list of vessels that engage in illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.
“Argentina reiterates its rejection of the unilateral actions of the United Kingdom, as they violate the CCAMLR regime and do not conform to the principles of Antarctic cooperation and good faith that characterize the Antarctic treaty system. Likewise, Argentina requests the immediate cessation of this illegal fishing.”
In 2021, Russia took the unprecedented step of rejecting the toothfish catch limits proposed by CCAMLR’s scientific committee, and since CCAMLR decisions must be made by unanimous consent of all members, the move effectively blocked toothfish fishing in areas of the high seas regulated by CCAMLR. An official from the government of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, which issued the licenses in coordination with the U.K. foreign office, said it took action so as not to give in to obstructionist tactics by Russia that it doesn’t expect will end anytime soon.
Overall, about 15 percent of the more than 12,000 metric tons of toothfish caught in the CCAMLR convention area comes from South Georgia. Three of the four vessels authorized by the U.K. to fish near South Georgia starting 1 May belong to Argos Froyanes, a British-Norwegian company that pioneered techniques credited with dramatically reducing seabird mortality in the south Atlantic.
Photo courtesy of Marine Stewardship Council
