The Buenos Aires media is reporting a potential incident situation in
South Georgia waters which could erupt into something more complicated
from the moment the Argentine research vessel ‘Eduardo Holmberg’ has
been involved in scientific activities in a zone which last year was
declared by the UK as a Maritime Protected Area, MPA, and which
Argentina does not recognize since it considers it ‘an area in dispute’.
The presentation of the issue says that “the Argentine government has
started a scientific research campaign in adjoining and coastal waters
of the South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands which together with the
Malvinas are part of the sovereignty dispute with the UK. The Foreign
Ministry initiative together with the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock
and Fisheries looks to consolidate the presence (of Argentina) under
the umbrella of the Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine
Living Resources, CCAMLR”
Because Argentina and Britain are full members of CCAMLR, the
government of President Cristina Fernandez sent a letter to CCAMLR
announcing the scientific research cruise in the South Georgia South
Sandwich Islands area, which as is the norm was then distributed to its
members.
But the notification allegedly triggered a letter from Jane Rumble,
head of Polar Regions Desk in the Foreign Office to CCAMLR chairperson
Andrew Wright, in which the UK expresses its surprise and disappointment
with Argentina’s notification procedure, “since Argentina did not have
the courtesy of previously communicating us regarding the research it
was about to begin in our jurisdictional waters”.
According to the Buenos Aires media the research cruise from INIDEP
(Argentina’s National Fisheries Research and Development Institute) left
Mar del Plata last 26 April and is currently off the west coast of
South Georgia involved in the “Study on the situation of marine biology
resources in the sub-area 48.3 and its links with the Weddell-Scotia
Confluence”. The study is in combination with the Argentine Antarctic
Institute. The cruise is expected to last a month and collect all the
data possible on the condition of demersal species along the sea bed.
However since the imposition by the UK of the one million square
kilometres MPA surrounding South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands,
“there are zones banned for fishing and UK attributed itself the right
to regulate and issue fishing licences”, says the Argentine media.
According to Ms Rumble from the Polar Regions Desk, the area is under
the jurisdiction of “the government from South Georgia and South
Sandwich Islands” and as such under Falkland Islands governor Nigel
Haywood mandate, and warns “that in the MPA the use of deep trawling
nets is banned as well as any other fisheries related activities in some
areas including the 12 nautical miles surrounding Georgia, Shag Rocks
and Clarke Rocks, unless a specific permission has been issued”.
However here is the interesting part: “in an attempt to show that
Argentina effectively requested the authorization, (which since
Argentina as full member of CCALMR does need such a licence), Governor
Haywood effectively extended Permit WPA/2013/011, stating that
‘following on Section 21 of the Protected Areas Ordinance, I hereby
authorize the fisheries research vessel Eduardo Holmberg to proceed with
the scientific research notified to CCALMR on 12 February 2013’”.
But the Malvinas Desk from the Argentine Foreign Office rejected
point blank the British authorization, since the Islands are under
British domain but “their sovereignty is in dispute in the UN, besides
the fact they are scientific research activities from a CCALMR full
member and oriented to the conservation of the Antarctic ecosystem”.
According to the Argentine version of events published in Buenos
Aires, Ms Rumble concluded stating that “the Argentine notification does
not give precise details about the research operation area. We would
feel extremely disappointed if they choose to ignore the potential
damage to the most vulnerable zones surrounding South Georgia with the
activities proposed for the research and we would expect they contact us
to guarantee that it can be considered a wide-ranging environmental
survey”
The Foreign Office official asked chairperson Wright to have the text distributed among CCALMR full members.
No comments:
Post a Comment