Strategic Insights From Antarctic MPAs: Navigating the Future Framework for High Seas MPAs Under the BBNJ Agreement

Current area-based management systems regulate only about 1.18% of the high seas, leaving highly migratory fish species at risk of overexploitation. As a result, new legal mechanisms are essential for protecting and managing high seas fisheries. In recent decades, stakeholders have debated how to balance competing interests while ensuring equitable and sustainable access to areas beyond national jurisdiction. One proposed solution is the establishment of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). However, creating and managing high seas MPAs is a complex process. The Parties to the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources have undertaken this effort, establishing two MPAs under the treaty’s regulatory framework. More recently, UN member states adopted the Agreement on Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction, which includes provisions for high seas MPAs, under the auspices of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. This Comment evaluates this new agreement under the lens of the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources to identify the most effective strategies for establishing high seas MPAs, with a particular focus on their role in preserving high seas fish stocks.