Kerry expresses regret as panel fails to establish protected areas in Ross Sea

US Secretary of State John Kerry expressed regret that the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) was not able to reach agreement on establishing marine protected areas, including the Ross Sea Region of Antarctica. In a statement released Tuesday night, Kerry predicted that a formulation for protecting the Ross Sea will be found. "There is simply no comprehensive effort to protect Earth's most critical resource that does not include an equally comprehensive effort to create marine protected areas (MPAs)," Kerry said. "That is why the United States and New Zealand proposed the creation of those areas in the Ross Sea Region." "I have seen firsthand how acidification, pollution and sea level rise tear at the fabric of our economies, our communities, even our security," Kerry said. The Ross Sea is a natural laboratory with an ecosystem as diverse as it is productive, "and we have a responsibility to protect it as environmental stewards, just as we do the rest of the ocean," he said While the commissioners were not able to reach full agreement at this meeting to designate MPAs for Antarctica, "they came close", Kerry noted. "The majority of CCAMLR members were able to find common grounds," he said. "We did not agree on all specifics, but there is an emerging consensus that the Antarctic region requires protection."