Protecting the poles: Marine living resource conservation approaches in the Arctic and Antarctic

Abstract

The world's polar regions have been singled out as spaces of international interest, with Antarctica being governed under the Antarctic Treaty System and the Arctic by various individual states and the Arctic Council. In recent years, however, both poles have seen an increase in interest in their marine resources as other traditionally fished species become harder to find due to overfishing and as access to the polar regions becomes easier and safer as a consequence of climate change. In this paper, I consider two proposals for the protection of polar marine resources: a 2011 proposal (resubmitted until acceptance in 2016) to create a Marine Protected Area in the Antarctic Ross Sea, and a 2014 proposal to ban commercial fishing in Arctic Ocean waters until further scientific study can be conducted.