The Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Seals (CCAS)

Seal hunting was a major economic activity in the early 19th century and Antarctic seal populations were seriously depleted by the 1820s. The first conservation scheme applicable to all of Antarctica was established by the Agreed Measures for the Conservation of Antarctic Fauna and Flora, adopted by the ATCM in 1964. The Consultative Parties subsequently developed the Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Seals (CCAS), which was signed in London on 1 June 1972 and entered into force in 1978.

Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR)

The conclusion of CCAS in 1972, dealing with a high seas resource, opened the way to consideration of the questions that would be posed by the potential large scale exploitation of krill, which could have severe repercussions for other Antarctic organisms that depend on krill for their food.

The Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) was signed in Canberra on 20 May in 1980 and entered into force in 1982. It provides for the conservation and rational use of krill, fin fish and other marine living resources in the Convention area. The Convention area is not exactly co-extensive with that of the Antarctic Treaty; the Treaty covers the area South of the 60th Parallel, while the Convention area also includes the area between 60 S and the Antarctic Convergence (a natural barrier which lies North of the 60th Parallel in some places).

An important feature of CCAMLR is the ecosystem approach to conservation, requiring that the effects on the ecosystem must be taken into account in managing the harvesting of marine resources.