World's Largest Marine Park : Environment for UPSC Exams
World's Largest Marine Park : Environment for UPSC Exams
- Delegates from 24 countries and the European Union have agreed that the Ross Sea in Antarctica will become the world's largest marine protected area (MPA).
- Some 1.57m sq km (600,000 sq miles) of the Southern Ocean will gain protection from commercial fishing for 35 years.
- The Ross Sea, its shelf and slope only comprise 2% of the Southern Ocean but they are home to 38% of the world's Adelie penguins, 30% of the world's Antarctic petrels and around 6% of the world's population of Antarctic minke whales.
- The Ross Sea is also home to huge numbers of krill, a staple food for species including whales and seals.
- There will be special zones where fishing from krill and toothfish will be allowed for research purposes.
- This is the biggest protected area on the land or the sea, this is the first large scale MPA on the high seas.
- The agreement came at the annual meeting of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR).
- The agreement will take effect from December 2017 and, for most of the reserve, will last an initial 35 years.