Lewis Pugh will make five freezing swims to draw attention to the plight of the Ross Sea.
Johannesburg - Every night for the past few weeks, I’ve enjoyed a long soak in a bath full of ice. This is to prepare for the extreme conditions I’ll face over the next few weeks as I head to Antarctica for five of the most southerly swims ever undertaken.
In 2007 I swam across the North Pole, so I know what these swims will do to my body. It took four months to regain the feeling in my hands after that swim… I’ll be doing the equivalent of five of those over the next three weeks.
I’m not doing this because I enjoy the cold. I’m doing it to draw attention to the urgent need to declare the Antarctic Ross Sea a Marine Protected Area (MPA). Which is why, as I lie in my ice bath, I often think about the Antarctic toothfish.
The toothfish produces a natural anti-freeze, which keeps it from turning to ice. You’d think I would envy the fish, I don’t. It is certainly popular, but so was its cousin, the Patagonia toothfish.
Described as “Chilean Seabass” on restaurant menus from New York to LA, the Patagonian toothfish is so sought after that the Southern Ocean is being stripped of them.
And the demand is rising.
Fishing vessels push further south, looking for new supplies, and the Antarctic toothfish is also showing signs of over-exploitation.
Ninety percent of the world’s big fish have been eliminated from our oceans.
We’ve seen dramatic collapses of fish populations around the world – from the cod of the Grand Banks to bluefin tuna in the Mediterranean.
When an apex predator – such as the toothfish – is removed from an ecosystem, that entire system can collapse.
They call it a ripple effect.
The Ross Sea is the most pristine marine ecosystem on the planet. It’s a Polar Garden of Eden. It’s also the end of the line; there’s no body of water any further south. It’s vital for the survival of the Antarctic toothfish, as well as Ross Sea orcas, Weddell seals, leopard seals, Adélie penguins, emperor penguins and many species found nowhere else on our planet.
The Ross Sea is vulnerable. The animals that live there are slow to reproduce, which means they have little capacity to cope with industrial fishing.
In just seven years, between 1923 and 1930, every blue whale in the Ross Sea had been slaughtered. You’re still unlikely to find a blue whale there today.
The Ross Sea is also the most productive region in the Southern Ocean, which makes it a vital carbon sink. If climate change remains unchecked, it’s predicted that the Ross Sea will be the last place on earth with any sea ice. But will there still be toothfish, or any of the other species that depend on it?
Antarctica is not a place we associate with battles. In 1959, at the height of the Cold War, the nations of the world came together to declare Antarctica a nuclear and weapons-free zone, dedicated to peaceful and scientific co-operation.
That Antarctic Treaty was a rare example of how humankind can work together, given the right incentive.
The treaty protected the continent’s landmass, but forgot about its waters. It left the Southern Ocean, including the Ross Sea, open to exploitation.
It’s time to correct that oversight. Declaring the Ross Sea an MPA would do it. And I believe that Russia can make it happen. The Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), which oversees the Ross Sea, has 24 member nations, plus the EU. Thus far, they have failed to agree to the extent and limitations of the proposed MPA. Russia is currently chair of CCAMLR, which puts that nation in a position to break this deadlock.
Consensus can be hard to come by. Some critics have gone so far as to suggest that the latest version of the MPA, proposed by New Zealand and the US, protects fishing rights more than fish.
Russia has a proud history in Antarctica. There are five Antarctic seas named after Russians, and nine Russian scientific bases there. Russian scientists have expressed concerns that the parameters of the proposed Ross Sea MPA don’t offer enough protection to its marine resources.
If anyone understands the beauty and fragility of Antarctica, they do.
There are those who will say the world is entering a “new Cold War”. They will argue that Russia is distracted by pressing conflicts closer to home. I passionately believe that there is no more pressing issue right now than the protection of our global resources.
If we are to find lasting peace between people, we must first make peace with nature.
Russia has a once-in-a-generation opportunity to lead the world in preserving this last great marine wilderness.
It would be a bold move that would send a positive and peaceful ripple through the Ross Sea ecosystem and around the globe.
* Lewis Pugh is an endurance swimmer and UN Patron of the Oceans. Follow him @Lewispugh.
Pretoria News