By Tito Drago
MADRID, Jun 20 2003 (IPS)

The announcement of the creation of a permanent secretariat to enforce environmental protection goals in the Antarctic, which will be based in Buenos Aires, culminated the 26th Consultative Meeting of the Antarctic Treaty, which ended Friday in Spain.

The secretariat, to be financed by voluntary contributions from the 45 Treaty signatories, will begin to act immediately.

The two-week gathering in Madrid also focused on problems arising from tourism, illegal fishing, and drilling in Lake Vostok.

The question of tourism in the Antarctic gave rise to lengthy, heated debates among the delegations, to the extent that the working group on tourism was still holding discussions during the closing ceremony, which was presided over by Spain’s Minister of Science and Technology, Josep Piqué.

France and Spain are especially interested in regulating tourism in the Antarctic, Spanish scientist José Antonio Yturriaga, the chair of the two-week consultative meeting, told IPS.

Yturriaga explained that France, Spain and other countries successfully pressed for the creation of a working group on the question, which is to present a report at the next consultative meeting, scheduled for June 2004 in Capetown, South Africa.

Tourism does not yet have a major impact on the Antarctic region, which is visited by less than 20,000 people a year, who neither stay in hotels nor anchor their ships in ports ”because there aren’t any of one or the other,” Fernando de la Serna, the head of the Spanish delegation, pointed out to IPS.

But de la Serna underlined that it was important for the working group to complete the task it was assigned before next year’s meeting in Capetown, in order to establish clear standards.

Piqué said the flow of tourists to the frozen continent should be strictly controlled, by the countries from which they set out, as well.

He added that Spain, ”which from the start has been involved in activities in the Antarctic,” will build a new ship to increase its scientific research ”focused on conservation of the region, which is vital to the health of the entire planet.”

He also said progress has been too slow in drafting a resolution on environmental liability, to hold countries accountable for damages caused, for example, by an oil spill.

The resolution should be ready by next year’s meeting, said Piqué.

Argentine delegate Cristian Pérez Muñoz, coordinator of the Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition (ASOC) in Latin America, told IPS that one of the big problems, which has taken on a critical dimension, is illegal fishing and the failure to adopt effective measures to combat the phenomenon.

He noted that vessels flying flags of convenience simply change their names when they deem necessary and violate catch limits and other regulations and laws over and over again.

ASOC, a conservation group dedicated to protecting Antarctica, published a ”red list” of around 30 fishing vessels, demanding that legal action be taken against them. But the list has brought ”scant results” so far, said Pérez Muñoz.

The boats mainly fish for Patagonian toothfish (Dissostichus eleginoides) – also known as sea bass, Chilean sea bass, Chilean grouper and black hake – which is ”very popular in the United States and Japan,” and their unregulated fishing activity is having a very negative impact on the environment in the Antarctic, he pointed out.

Another ASOC member, Chilean activist Ricardo Roura, said it was indispensable to draw up and approve an international polar navigation code to crack down on the problem.

The meeting in Madrid also decided that Russia should suspend drilling in Lake Vostok, which is under approximately 3,800 metres of ice, until it can offer sufficient guarantees for preservation of the buried lake, which must first be accepted by the rest of the Treaty nations.

Yturriaga said Russian researchers have already drilled 3,650 metres into the shell of ice that covers the lake. ”They have only 150 to go, but that is where the greatest danger is, due to fears of contamination and of a disturbance of the biological equilibrium that was preserved for millions of years,” he said.

Scientists are eager to study a sample of the lake water to explore for life, but are worried that the entire lake could be contaminated.

Deeming insufficient the guarantees offered by the Russian delegation, the participants in this week’s meeting also agreed that the issue should be discussed again at next year’s gathering, with the hope that Russia will have made progress towards coming up with adequate security and protective measures.

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