The Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs, Gloria de la Fuente, will today open the Third Special Meeting of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR).

The Acting Minister will welcome policy makers and resource managers representing 27 international delegations, who will discuss progress towards the development of a representative system of Marine Protected Areas in the waters surrounding Antarctica. The meeting is hosted by the Government of Chile in the Intercontinental Hotel, Santiago.

Representatives from other Contracting Parties as well as intergovernmental, environmental and industry organisations will also participate in the meetings as official observers, adding their voices to the issues under discussion.

CCAMLR is a consensus-based organisation consisting of 27 Members (26 countries and the European Union). The meeting will be chaired by Mr Vitalii Tsymbaliuk from Ukraine.

The Commission has previously implemented two high seas Marine protected areas, the South Orkney Islands southern shelf MPA and the Ross Sea region MPA. The meeting will discuss issues such as procedures for the design and implementation of MPAs as well as a number of proposals for new MPAs.

Media enquiries should be directed to media [at] ccamlr [dot] org or the media department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Chile, snuneza [at] minrel [dot] gob [dot] cl / varqueros [at] minrel [dot] gob [dot] cl.

The Schedule for the Third Special Meeting of the Commission is available on the CCAMLR website.

Please note: there will be no media conference at the close of the meeting. However, a release will be published on the CCAMLR website and sent to the CCAMLR media mailing list.

What is CCAMLR?

• The Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources
• The Commission was established by an international treaty in 1982 and in 2022 celebrated 40 years of conserving the waters around Antarctica.
• Its objective is the conservation of Antarctic marine life, including krill which are highly important in the Antarctic ecosystem, where conservation includes rational use.
• The Commission has 27 Members and a further 10 countries have signed the Convention and are observers to its meetings.
• CCAMLR is a key international instrument part of the Antarctic Treaty System that as a whole for 60 years has ensured peace, freedom of science and protection of the environment in the Antarctic region. The system consists of the Antarctic Treaty and its Environmental Protocol, the Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels and the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Seals in addition to CCAMLR.
• The Secretariat (international Headquarters) is at 181 Macquarie Street, Hobart, Australia
• Further information is available on the CCAMLR website, brochure or through our blog looking through the achievements of CCAMLR over the past 40 years.

CCAMLR Secretariat media contact

Email: media [at] ccamlr [dot] org