The Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) in the Southern Ocean

Completely surrounding Antarctica, the Southern Ocean covers approximately 15% of the world’s ocean area and extends from the continent itself northwards to the seasonally shifting Antarctic Convergence or Polar Front (where the Southern Ocean’s cold waters meets the warmer waters of the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Oceans). The primary driver for the adoption of the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CAMLR Convention) in 19801 was the need for a multi-lateral response to a history of over-fishing in the Southern Ocean, in particular, for marbled rock cod (Notothenia rossii) and mackerel icefish (Champsochephalus gunnari), and the threat of increased unregulated fishing on krill (Euphausia superba) in the future.