‘Very bad precedent’: China and Russia team up to undermine krill fishing restrictions in Antarctica

An Australian expert says China has clear ambition to fish more krill and exert its influence in the region, while Russia may have a more disruptive agenda. Photograph: Hemis/Alamy

China and Russia are working together to block new Antarctic marine parks and loosen krill fishing restrictions, undermining a major international convention designed to protect the region from overexploitation, according to analysts and conservationists.

With the support of Russia, China reportedly used its veto rights at a meeting of the 26-nation Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) in Tasmania to prevent the renewal of an agreement restricting krill fishing.