Nexus and Imbroglio: CCAMLR, the Madrid Protocol and Designating Antarctic Marine Protected Areas in the Southern Ocean

Abstract

The paper examines the process and context of international efforts to designate MPAs in the Southern Ocean. The relationship between the CAMLR Convention and the Madrid Protocol is examined in relation to legal, political and administrative norms and practices. A contextual overview of the Antarctic marine protected area system is considered followed by overlapping competencies of CCAMLR and the Madrid Protocol. The Antarctic MPA debate is placed in a wider international legal context of the management of global oceans space in areas beyond national jurisdiction. We provide an analysis of the politico-­‐legal discourse and point to complicating factors within, and external to, the Antarctic system. The concluding section suggests options for breathing new life into the Southern Ocean MPA discourse.