Management of Southern Ocean Marine Living Resources: The Origins and Development of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources

The development of the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CAMLR Convention) was a substantial step in the development of the Antarctic Treaty System (ATS) and continues to be an integral part of the ATS. The commission established under the convention, the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), has provided innovative and significant contributions to living marine resources management through its conservation-focused, precautionary, science-focused, ecosystem-based approach to management of marine living resources in the Southern Ocean. CCAMLR’s prime objective is elaborated in Article II of the CAMLR Convention, which states that “The objective of this convention is the conservation of Antarctic marine living resources”. This chapter places the development of the CAMLR Convention in the context of marine resource exploitation in the Southern Ocean and the potential impacts of an unregulated krill fishery in the region. The chapter highlights the process of negotiating the convention and the geopolitical challenges that emerged in the negotiations and in the first meetings of CCAMLR.