Economy Southern Ocean
Economy - overview:
Fisheries in 2003-04 landed 136,262 metric tons, of which 87%
(118,166 tons) was krill and 8% (11,182 tons) Patagonian toothfish,
compared to 142,555 tons in 2002-03 of which 83% (117,728 tons) was
krill and 12% (16,479 tons) Patagonian toothfish (estimated fishing
from the area covered by the Convention of the Conservation of
Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), which extends slightly
beyond the Southern Ocean area). International agreements were
adopted in late 1999 to reduce illegal, unreported, and unregulated
fishing, which in the 2000-01 season landed, by one estimate, 8,376
metric tons of Patagonian and Antarctic toothfish. In the 2004-05
Antarctic summer 28,202 tourists, most of them seaborne
(approximately 97%), visited the Southern Ocean and Antarctica,
compared to 14,762 in 1999-2000.
Transportation Southern Ocean
Ports and terminals:
McMurdo, Palmer, and offshore anchorages in Antarctica
note: few ports or harbors exist on southern side of Southern Ocean;
ice conditions limit use of most to short periods in midsummer; even
then some cannot be entered without icebreaker escort; most
Antarctic ports are operated by government research stations and,
except in an emergency, are not open to commercial or private
vessels; vessels in any port south of 60 degrees south are subject
to inspection by Antarctic Treaty observers (see Article 7); The
Hydrographic Committee on Antarctica (HCA), a special hydrographic
commission of International Hydrographic Organization (IHO), is
responsible for hydrographic surveying and nautical charting matters
in Antarctic Treaty area; it coordinates and facilitates provision
of accurate and appropriate charts and other aids to navigation in
support of safety of navigation in region; membership of HCA is open
to any IHO Member State whose government has acceded to the
Antarctic Treaty and which contributes resources and/or data to IHO
Chart coverage of the area; members of HCA are Argentina, Australia,
Chile, China, France, Germany, Greece, India, Italy, NZ, Norway,
Russia, South Africa, Spain, and the UK (2005)
Transportation - note:
Drake Passage offers alternative to transit through the Panama Canal
Transnational Issues Southern Ocean
Disputes - international:
Antarctic Treaty defers claims (see Antarctica entry), but
Argentina, Australia, Chile, France, NZ, Norway, and UK assert
claims (some overlapping), including the continental shelf in the
Southern Ocean; several states have expressed an interest in
extending those continental shelf claims under the United Nations
Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) to include undersea
ridges; the US and most other states do not recognize the land or
maritime claims of other states and have made no claims themselves
(the US and Russia have reserved the right to do so); no formal
claims exist in the waters in the sector between 90 degrees west and
150 degrees west
This page was last updated on 19 December, 2006
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