Antarctic Marine Sanctuary Proposal Blocked by Russia

Antarctica is one of the last "pristine" landscapes on our planet. Penguins, whales and other marine species thrive in its ocean waters, feeding on the bounty of small shrimp and other organisms that live there. Now, a vote has decided whether or not to declare a marine protection area over a region that's seven times the size of Germany.

The region itself in question is called the Ross Sea, a deep bay in the Southern Antarctic. If the vote went through, then fishing would have been banned in the area--a boon to the wildlife that lives there. That said, it would have been a loss to the Russian fishing industry; in fact, Russia blocked attempts by western countries to set up the protected areas in 2012, according to BBC News.

"Russia and Ukraine have fishing interests and are a little bit afraid that these could be compromised in some way," said Walter Dubner, who heads the German team at the talks by the Commission form the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) in an interview with The Guardian. "It's all about fishing. That is their major concern."

The currently meeting included 24 countries and the European Union and took place in the German port city of Bremerhaven. While the U.S. and New Zealand backed a proposal to create 2.3 million square kilometers of protected area, another proposal from Australia, France and the European Union would have created protected areas in East Antarctica that protected about 1.63 million square kilometers. Unfortunately, it seems that neither of them will occur--at least for now. Russia has once again blocked the vote.

"That we missed a critical opportunity to protect some of the most pristine ocean areas on Earth is a loss for the ecosystem and the international community," said Andrea Kavanagh, director of the Pew Charitable Trusts' Southern Ocean sanctuaries project, to BBC News. "We urge world leaders to appeal to Russia to work with other countries, and it is imperative that countries send their delegates back to the table in three months to find consensus to protect Antarctic waters." 

The group will meet again in late October.