Successful conservation - then what? The de-listing of Arctocephalus fur seal species in Antarctica

At the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting (ATCM) in Edinburgh in June 2006, a proposal to de-list fur seals (Arctocephalus sp.) from special protection was accepted. This is the first time the Antarctic Treaty Parties have substantively reviewed their 40-year-old legal regime for special protection of a listed species. Before the Parties could arrive at a decision it was necessary for them to design and adopt a procedure for dealing with listing and de-listing. It was also necessary to examine management choices post-de-listing because fur seals have taken a strong foothold in Antarctic Peninsula ecosystems and their niche making has been problematic. The Parties chose a passive approach to future management of fur seals (that is, without a specific action plan for monitoring and reassessment3), based on the belief that the species are not in any immediate danger of reversal of fortune: “. . . they [fur seals] would not be exposed to any potential threat of commercial exploitation in the future as a result of their delisting as Specially Protected Species” (emphasis added).