Re-emphasising the importance of the D1MPA proposal for the conservation of the Antarctic marine ecosystem under scenarios of environmental and management uncertainties

A successful development of a krill fishery management strategy has become a matter of importance for CCAMLR. The Commission has also noted that successfully implementing the krill fishery management strategy within the current lifetime of CM 51-07 will be a significant challenge. Recently, evidences of changes in krill fishing having effects on penguin population dynamics have suggested that CM 51-07 might not be precautionary enough. The work on a new management strategy is progressing and while the reasons why we urgently need to progress towards a feedback management strategy are clear, during the last EMM virtual meeting, the existence and the need to address some uncertainties, such as the precautionary level of the Risk Assessment and the accuracy of the stock assessment parameters, was acknowledged. Some of the uncertainties can be tackled in a relatively short time while others will need to be addressed over a longer time frame. In this document we argue that the D1MPA proposal is a valid alternative as a tool to guarantee the safeguard of the marine living resources in Antarctica, where conservation includes rational use as required by Article II of the Convention.