A diplomatic dispute over fish has erupted between the United Kingdom and the United States in response to Russia’s provocations.
The fight could lead to a ban on imports of fish from Patagonia, also known as Chilean sea bass, which U.S. officials say is being caught illegally near Antarctica.
It comes after Russia rejected proposed hake catch limits to conserve Antarctic marine life.
The United Kingdom responded by issuing licenses to four British-flagged vessels to fish for southern fish.
U.S. officials say the move violates commission rules and will not allow fish to be imported.
The United Kingdom quietly issued licenses off the coast of South Georgia, a remote, uninhabited island controlled by the United Kingdom, about 870 miles east of the Falkland Islands.
It means for the first time since governments joined forces 40 years ago to protect marine life near the South Pole, deep-sea Chilean sea bass fishing is advancing this season with no catch limits.
The move has essentially transformed one of the world’s best-managed fisheries into a stretch of ocean outside the law the size of France, at least in the eyes of U.S. officials, who threaten to ban UK imports from the United States. zone.
Will McCallum, Greenpeace UK’s head of oceans, said that “in a world plagued by conflict, the UK is playing a risky game”.
“The history of Antarctic protection is one of peaceful cooperation for the common good of mankind,” he said.
“Russia’s constant desire to abuse the process cannot excuse the unilateral action of other members.”
UK accused of “illegal” response to fishing
For decades, the fishery near South Georgia was an example of international fisheries cooperation.
It sometimes brought together opposing powers such as Russia, China and the United States to protect the cold, crystalline blue southern ocean from the type of free fishing seen on the high seas.
But last year, as tensions with the West escalated over Ukraine, Russia took the unprecedented step of rejecting the hake catch limits proposed by the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources ( CCAMLR), of 26 members.
Image: Chilean sea bass fillets caught near the UK-controlled island of South Georgia. Image: AP
The measure was tantamount to a unilateral veto because of rules, common to many international fisheries pacts, which require all decisions to be taken by unanimous agreement.
Critics say the UK’s response – issuing licenses without a CCAMLR-approved catch limit – is illegal under the commission’s rules and weakens the Cold War Antarctic Treaty to set aside the continent as a scientific reserve.
U.S. officials have also privately told their UK counterparts that they would likely ban imports of any southern fish caught near South Georgia, according to correspondence seen by the Associated Press.
Britain “risks reviving tensions with Argentina”
The struggle underscores how Russia’s attempts to undermine the West have spread even to obscure forums, usually far removed from geopolitical clashes.
It also runs the risk of reviving UK tensions with Argentina, which invaded South Georgia in 1982 as part of its war with the United Kingdom over the Falkland Islands.
Image: archive image
“It sets a dangerous precedent,” said Evan Bloom, the former head of the U.S. delegation to the CCAMLR.
“What the Russians did clearly violates the spirit of science-based fisheries management. But that does not necessarily mean that the United Kingdom can act unilaterally.”
An official from the government of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, who issued the licenses in coordination with the UK Foreign Ministry, said he had taken steps not to give in to Russia’s obstructionist tactics. wait for them to finish. anytime.