Exploitation and development of Antarctic and Southern Ocean

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  • Created by: darcie_cl
  • Created on: 20-02-14 11:33
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  • Exploitation and development of Antarctic and Southern Ocean
    • BASIC FACTS
      • Southernmost continent.
      • 98% covered by ice.
      • Extreme cold = very isolated.
      • SO has the worlds largest ocean current.
      • High levels of biomass. Very dependant on krill
    • HUMAN IMPACTS
      • KRILL
        • Decline in krill may explain the decrease of some penguin species
        • Rising temperature = less phytoplankton under sea-ice = decline in krill numbers
        • Humans harvest about 100,000 tonnes of krill per year --> numbers dropped by 80% since 1970
      • FISHERIES IN SOUTHERN OCEAN
        • Now the only large-scale exploitation going on in Antarctica
        • Effects on other species depends on the target species as a food source
          • Kill other than the target fish by decreasing food source
        • Kill other fish caught alongside the target fish
        • CCAMLR (resource conservation) - promotes sustainable exploitation NOT COMPLETE PROTECTION
        • Chilean Seabass - market price has increased, increasing amount of illegal fishing for it
          • Techniques of illegal fishing have no concern for fish species
      • WHALING
        • Whales migrate South during austral summer to take advantage of food resources
          • Extreme whaling began in 1904 when the whale processing station was built in South Georgia
        • 1946 International Whaling Commission - Whale conservation
        • Japan still illegally takes around 300 whales from the SO per year today
    • TOURISM IMPACTS
      • Non-residential. Only short term visitors
      • In 2007/8 there was 46,069 tourists and 4,000 who visited as part of a national Atlantic programme
        • National Antarctic programme often stay for a long period of time but bases are low impact
        • Tourists stay for a short period of time but activities are high impact; interrupts wildlife, ships catch uncharted rocks = oil spills, damages picturesque areas
          • M/S exploer sank and largely polluted the ocean
      • International Association of Antarctic Tour Operations (IAATO)
        • Strict guidelines; limits ship size, limits number of people on land at one time
    • THE ARCTIC TREATY
      • 1961 Nature Reserves by the Antarctic Treaty
      • World Governments agree to set the continent aside for peace and scientific research
        • NOT for economic uses; oil production, tourism
      • Stops Antarctic exploitation

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