Desarrollo de la Antártica

EL DESARROLLO DE LA ANTÁRTICA the colIection, analysis and publicatíon of catch statistics from a defined area, an essential preliminary step. This is a task for which the Food and Agriculture Organizatíon of the United Nations ís weJI equipped and might be invited to undertake. While 1 think we must look forward to the eventual establishment of an intemational regional físheries commission, it will be necessa– ry to ;proceed very cautiously indeed. FAO has, in fact, recentIy taken an initiative with their proposal for a vast project calIed SOFSP (Sont– hem Ocean Fisheries 8urvey Programme), covering all the waters south of lato 45°8., except 'waters under national jurisdiction'. unles') countries ibave explicitly invited participation. 1 must confess that 1 read of this project with serious misgivings. In sorne respects ít seems to take no account of the polítical realities, or of the distur– bance which it can cause to the Antarctic Treaty system. Tibe fish resources are largely concentrated within present or future 200 mile coastal state fishing jurisdictions. Little OT no account is taken of the srecial problems of jurisdiction in the Antarctic. Also. this pro– ject is quite unlikely to ,be acceptable to those countries with the technological capability of engaging in Soutihem Ocean fisheries if developing countries were to obtain a majority vote in the develop~ ment of the programme. It is not difficult to understand why sorne of the Antarctic Treaty Consultative !Parries - e~pecially rhose in the 80utlhem Hemisphere - want to try to organize Southem Ocean fisheries within the ex– clusive scope of the Treaty. 1 find myself in svmpathy with this at– titude, but at the same time 1 believe it is neither practIca! nor realistic, because it will not be accepted by the rest of the world. A wider group of nations will certainly be involved. The Consultative Parries should make provision for this and thus avoid nullifying tlhe benefits of the Treaty. Man's impact on the Antarctic environmet It is obvious to aB of us that whenever men have penetrated into new regions which have previously been undisturbed they have upset tlhe natural ecological situation. May 1 mention, as only one of a huge number of examples, the introduction of European rabbits into Tierra del Fuego in the 1930's and again in the 1950's. This was disastrous for sheep farming in sorne ranges, because the rabbits quickly became a plague by riddling the ground wit!h burrows and leaving it bare of grass. We need to give muoo more thought to the possible destructive effect of any proposed human activities in the