Representatives from 24 nations agreed to create a zone that will encompass 600,000 square miles of ocean in the Ross Sea in Antarctica

SYDNEY — The world’s biggest marine reserve, almost as large as Alaska, will be established in the Ross Sea in Antarctica under an agreement reached by representatives of 24 nations and the European Union in Australia on Friday. It is pleasing this can be isolated and agreed.”

The Ross Sea reserve includes the Ross Sea shelf and slope, and the Balleny Islands. The agreement came on Friday at the conclusion of two weeks of discussions between delegates from 24 countries and the EU in Hobart, at the annual meeting of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR). The meeting of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources that took place in Hobart, Australia on Friday finally agreed to designate 600,000 square miles as a zone protected from harmful human activity – that’s twice the area of Texas. “They all have diverse economic, political interests and to get them all to align - especially in the context of there are divergent economic interests - is quite a challenge,” Evan Bloom, director at the U.S. Department of State and leader of the U.S. delegation, told Reuters. “Although there was not a decision on the proposed protection of the Weddell Sea and the East Antarctic this year, we are confident that these areas will be protected in the coming years, adding to the system of marine protected areas in the Southern Ocean.”

The Ross Sea is named after British explorer Sir James Ross and his great, great, great granddaughter Phillipa Ross said the family was thrilled it was safeguarded. “This is a real win for marine conservation.”

In a statement, Kerry said the agreement “will safeguard one of the last unspoiled ocean wilderness areas on the planet — home to unparalleled marine biodiversity and thriving communities of penguins, seals, whales, seabirds, and fish.”

New Zealand’s Foreign Minister Murray McCully said the final agreement included some concessions to Russia, including adjusting the reserve’s boundaries and allowing a little more commercial fishing outside the no-take zone. The Ross Sea marine park, in the Southern Ocean, had been on the commission’s agenda for about six years, and conservationists had been arguing for a no-fishing zone there for a decade, said Andrea Kavanagh, a director of the Southern Oceans Sanctuaries Campaign at Pew Charitable Trusts in Washington.
At an annual meeting of the Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources in Hobart, Australia, twenty-four countries and the European Union agree to create the world's largest marine park in Antarctica's Ross Sea. The marine park will cover more than 12 percent of the Southern Ocean, and will be protected from commercial fishing for 35 years.