The opposition could lead to a ban on the importation of Patagonian toothache, also known as Chilean seabass, which US officials claim is being caught illegally near Antarctica. It comes after Russia rejected reef fishing limits proposed to preserve Antarctic marine life. The United Kingdom responded by issuing licenses to four British-flagged vessels to fish for fish. U.S. officials say the move violates Commission rules and will not allow fish to be imported. The United Kingdom has quietly issued permits 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 that for the first time since governments united 40 years ago to protect marine life near the South Pole, Chilean sea bass fishing continues this season with no catch limits. The move has effectively turned one of the world’s best-managed fisheries into a section of illegal ocean the size of France – at least in the eyes of US officials, which is threatening to ban UK imports from the region. Will McCallum, head of Oceanpe Green UK, said: “In a world of conflict, the United Kingdom is playing a dangerous game. “The history of the protection of Antarctica is a history of peaceful cooperation for the common good of humanity,” he said. “Russia’s persistent willingness to abuse the process can not justify the unilateral action of other members.” The United Kingdom has been accused of an “illegal” response to the fishery For decades, fishing near South Georgia has been a child poster for international fisheries cooperation. It has sometimes rallied rival powers such as Russia, China and the United States to protect the cold, crystal clear blue of the southern ocean from the kind of open sea fishing. But last year, as tensions with the West escalated over Ukraine, Russia took the unprecedented step by rejecting the fishing tackle limits proposed by the 26-member Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Resources (CCAMLR). Image: Chilean seabass fillets were caught near the UK-controlled island of South Georgia. Photo: AP The move was tantamount to a unilateral veto due to rules common to many international fisheries agreements, which require all decisions to be taken by unanimous agreement. Critics say the UK’s response – the issuance of unrestricted catches approved by the CCAMLR – is illegal under Commission rules and undermines the Antarctic Treaty introduced during the Cold War to sideline the continent as scientific. refuge. U.S. officials also told their UK counterparts privately that they would likely ban imports of any fish caught near South Georgia, according to correspondence seen by the Associated Press. Britain is in danger of rekindling tensions with Argentina The struggle underscores how Russia’s efforts to undermine the West have extended even to dark forums that are usually shunned by geopolitical conflicts. It also threatens to rekindle British tensions with Argentina, which invaded southern Georgia in 1982 as part of its war with the United Kingdom over the Falkland Islands. Image: Image file “It sets a dangerous precedent,” said Evan Bloom, the former head of the US delegation to CCAMLR. “What the Russians have done clearly violates the spirit of scientific fisheries management. But that does not necessarily mean that the United Kingdom can act unilaterally.” An official from the South Georgia and Sandwich Islands governments, who issued the permits in coordination with the UK Foreign Office, said he had taken action not to give in to Russia’s obstructive tactics, which he did not expect to end any time soon.
