CCAMLR’s approach to the conservation of Antarctic marine living resources is defined by Article II of the Convention:

1. The objective of this Convention is the conservation of Antarctic marine living resources.
2. For the purposes of this Convention, the term ‘conservation’ includes rational use.
3. Any harvesting and associated activities in the area to which this Convention applies shall be conducted in accordance with the provisions of this Convention and with the following principles of conservation:

(a) prevention of decrease in the size of any harvested population to levels below those which ensure its stable recruitment. For this purpose its size should not be allowed to fall below a level close to that which ensures the greatest net annual increment;

(b) maintenance of the ecological relationships between harvested, dependent and related populations of Antarctic marine living resources and the restoration of depleted populations to the levels defined in sub-paragraph (a) above; and

(c) prevention of change(s) or minimisation of the risk of change(s) in the marine ecosystem which are not potentially reversible over two or three decades, taking into account the state of available knowledge of the direct and indirect impact of harvesting, the effect of the introduction of alien species, the effects of associated activities on the marine ecosystem and of the effects of environmental changes, with the aim of making possible the sustained conservation of Antarctic marine living resources.

From these principles, two central concepts have evolved in the way in which CCAMLR has approached its management responsibilities, namely:

(i) Management strives to follow a ‘precautionary’ approach. This means that CCAMLR collects the data it can, then weighs up the extent and effect of the uncertainties and gaps in such data before making a management decision. The approach aims to minimise the risk of long-term adverse effects rather than delaying decisions until all necessary data are available.

(ii) Management also follows an ‘ecosystem’ approach. Ideally, this takes into account all the delicate and complex relationships between organisms (of all sizes) and physical processes (such as currents, sea temperature) that constitute the Antarctic marine ecosystem. Obviously, this is a difficult task which is compounded by the Southern Ocean’s size – approximately 35 million square kilometres.

Given the inherent complexities of the ecosystem approach, it is not surprising that fisheries managers and multilateral fisheries conventions have largely ignored ecosystem concerns and have tended to concentrate instead on regulating those species being targeted by specific fisheries.

CCAMLR’s ecosystem approach not only focuses on regulating fishing for certain species, it also aims to ensure that fishing does not adversely impact other species that are related to, or dependent on, the target species. For example, while krill harvesting is regulated and monitored directly, CCAMLR also endeavours to monitor the potential effect which harvesting may exert on species that either eat krill or which in turn are eaten by krill predators. CCAMLR therefore seeks to preserve the ‘health’ of the ecosystem by setting conservative (i.e. precautionary) krill catch limits to take account of the needs of associated species in a manner which preserves the ecological sustainability of all the species concerned.

A spinoff from CCAMLR’s pioneering work on the precautionary and ecosystem approaches is now being seen as setting the standards for fisheries agencies around the world.