The Commission includes a Scientific Committee established by the CAMLR Convention. The Commission and the Scientific Committee can establish subsidiary bodies that are necessary for the performance of their functions.
The Convention Area is described in the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources as consisting of all waters bounded by the Antarctic Continent to the south, and to the north by a line starting at 50°S 50°W; thence due east to 30°E longitude; thence due north to 45°S latitude; thence due east to 80°E longitude; thence due south to 55°S latitude; thence due east to 150°E longitude; thence due south to 60°S latitude; thence due east to 50°W longitude;
Applications for membership are limited to Contracting Parties that have acceded to the CAMLR Convention and are:
...engaged in research or harvesting activities in relation to the marine living resources to which the Convention applies
The Contracting Party must then notify the Depositary in the form of a Diplomatic Note which describes the basis upon which it seeks to become a Member of the Commission and its willingness to accept conservation measures in force.
A CCAMLR Contracting Party is a State or a regional economic integration organisation, such as the European Union, which has committed to the Convention through ratification, acceptance, approval or accession.
Contracting Parties that are not Members of the Commission are called Acceding States. The Convention is open for accession by any State interested in research or harvesting activities to which the Convention applies.
Acceding States do not take part in the decision-making process of the Commission nor contribute to the budget.
The Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CAMLR Convention) forms an integral part of the Antarctic Treaty System. Provisions in the CAMLR Convention bind Contracting Parties to a range of obligations in the Antarctic Treaty, including:
The CAMLR Convention is a multilateral response by Antarctic Treaty Consultative Parties (ATCPs) to potential threats to Antarctic marine ecosystems occurring as a result of increased commercial interest in Antarctic fisheries resources, including krill. Drawing on the advice of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research, the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting (ATCM) convened the Conference on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources.
The Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources is an international treaty that was adopted at the Conference on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources which met at Canberra, Australia, 7–20 May 1980.
It is a multilateral response to concerns that unregulated increases in krill catches in the Southern Ocean could be detrimental for Antarctic marine ecosystems particularly for seabirds, seals, whales and fish that depend on krill for food.
In the 1990’s IUU fishing for toothfish in the Convention Area was estimated to be over six times the catch reported by authorised fishing vessels. At that time, CCAMLR was aware that other Antarctic marine stocks had not recovered from overfishing in the 1970’s and identified that addressing IUU fishing was a critical need. Although it is believed that the level of IUU fishing in the Convention Area has declined it still remains a concern for the Commission and has the potential to seriously undermine CCAMLR’s conservation objectives.
To further improve compliance with conservation measures, Members are required to notify the CCAMLR Secretariat of the movements into, out of and between subareas and divisions of the Convention Area for their flagged vessels within 24 hours of a movement occurring. A vessel may also provide these reports directly to the CCAMLR Secretariat. This information is validated with Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) data that is also provided to the CCAMLR Secretariat by vessels operating inside the Convention Area.
