The amount of people visiting Antarctica has been rapidly increasing over the last decade.
With numbers reaching 50,000 & expected to rise. However, tourism is self regulated.
With numbers reaching 50,000 & expected to rise. However, tourism is self regulated.
Antarctic and Patagonian toothfish are an incredible deep-water fish, with natural antifreeze in their blood. This allows them to live thousands of metres deep in the frigid waters of Antarctica. Also known as Chilean sea bass, they are a long-lived, slow growing fish. They do not reach maturity until at least 10 years of age, making the species very vulnerable to overfishing.
Globally, fisheries have been severely exploited with an estimated 90% of all fisheries depleted. Industrial fishing has destroyed most coastal fisheries due to the relative ease of access. With the destruction of coastal fisheries, toothfish are now targeted. This means that large trawlers travel massive distances, using long-lines with up to 60,000 hooks, to plunder what little is left of our world's oceans. Importantly, toothfish contribute nothing to global food security. Instead, they are served as a luxury dish in 5-star hotels around the world. This means that this fishery does nothing to reduce global fishing pressures.
Along with krill fishing, the Bob Brown Foundation is calling for a complete end to toothfish fishing. We will aim for the establishment of a permanent no take zone in the Antarctic and Sub Antarctic.
Despite the Antarctic Treaty System (ATS) voting nations committing themselves to the environmental protection of the Antarctic and Southern Ocean, the ecosystem is completely unprotected from the climate crisis within the ATS framework, even though this poses the gravest threat to the future of the ecosystem.
Krill are the main source of food for whales and penguins and in fact they are one of the keys to the Antarctic ecosystem survival. A combination of climate change and industrial-scale fishing is threatening the krill population in Antarctic waters.
We recognise First Nations as the custodians of land and water across Australia and pay our respects to Elders past and present. We acknowledge sovereignty was never ceded.
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