Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Seals (London, 1972)

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The Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Seals (CCAS) is part of Antarctic Treaty System. Although CCAS is an independent agreement, it contains provisions committing its Parties to essential parts of the Antarctic Treaty such as Article IV which deals with the legal status of territorial claims. The Environment Protocol is open to accession by Antarctic Treaty Parties only.

Seal hunting was a major economic activity in the early 19th century and Antarctic seal populations were seriously depleted by the 1820s. The first conservation scheme applicable to all of Antarctica was established by the Agreed Measures for the Conservation of Antarctic Fauna and Flora, adopted by the ATCM in 1964. The Consultative Parties subsequently developed the Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Seals (CCAS), which was signed in London on 1 June 1972 and entered into force in 1978.

The conclusion of CCAS in 1972, dealing with a high seas resource, opened the way to consideration of the questions that would be posed by the potential large scale exploitation of krill, which could have severe repercussions for other Antarctic organisms that depend on krill for their food.

You may want to see the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), which is also part of the Antarctic Treaty System.

Some parts of this presentation were taken from the Secretary of Atlantic Treaty Website

you can find more information on: www.ats.aq