The Challenge of Antarctic Governance in the Early 21st Century

Political situation presented by Antarctica - Positives, Negatives. Challenges - Antarctic Treaty System (ATS) regime, Institutional architecture, Participation / equity, Activity levels increasing - Greater Southern Ocean (incl S Indian Ocean), Nationalism. Options - Do nothing, ATS collapse / manage globally, Reinvigorated regional regime (ATS

Southern Horizons: South Asia in the South Indian Ocean

The paper examines facets of the emerging international regulatory structure largely around Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (RFMOs) in the South Indian Ocean sector of the 'Greater Southern Ocean', both north and south of the Antarctic Convergence. In the South Indian Ocean sector, apart from the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources where India is a decision-making and Pakistan a non decision-making party, no South Asian state is a party to any operative RFMOs. Surprisingly, this non-participation includes the South Indian Ocean Fisheries Agreement. The paper reflects on the varying conceptions of the 'South Indian Ocean', particularly within Indian strategic discourse. It encourages critical thinking by South Asian social sciences scholars about framings, interests, and South Asian engagement in South Indian Ocean institutional development

Antarctic Geopolitics

A Continent of 14 million square kilometres, surrounded by a Southern Ocean of 35 million square kilometres. A Continent beyond generally recognised national territorial jurisdiction (but 7 claimants and 2 semi-claimants). An ocean which is therefore “High Seas’ right up to the coast of Antarctica. A form of collective governance under the Antarctic Treaty System, whose roots go back 57 years. Control, access and acceptability of resources exploitation

The Antarctic Treaty System (The Year in Review 2014)

The key Antarctic Treaty System (ATS) events of 2014 were the two annual diplomatic meetings, the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting and the Meeting of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources. These diplomatic meetings include the main sessions of the advisory bodies, the Committee for Environmental Protection (CEP) and the Scientific Committee for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (SC-CAMLR), established under the relevant international instruments. Reports were received (as Working papers – WPs) from a number of mandated and informal intersessional contact groups operating through electronic means between the 36th and 37th ATCMs. No Meeting of Experts was held between the ATCMs. Following normal practice, three intersessional meetings of Working Groups of SC-CAMLR (Ecosystem Monitoring and Management; Statistics, Assessments and Modelling; and Fish Stock Assessment) and a meeting of the Subgroup on Acoustic Survey and Analysis Methods, were held during 2014. New Zealand was, as usual, an active participant across all the ATS current issues. Although the level of effort in relation to the Ross Sea MPA proposal (as measured by papers and meeting interventions) continued unabated in 2014, no substantive progress was made on MPA designation. Given the repeated failures within CCAMLR fora over the last several years to reach consensus on designation of any further MPAs, the prognoscis for success in the near-term remains bleak