The meeting was chaired by the Commissioner for the Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, Virginijus Sinkevičius and attended by representatives of 14 CCAMLR Member States, apart from Poland, i.e. Australia, France, Germany, Sweden, Spain, Belgium, Italy, USA, Great Britain, Norway, Uruguay, New Zealand, Chile and Argentina. The talks were held online on April 28 this year.

The aim of the meeting was to promote the idea of creating marine protected areas and build support among CCAMLR members for the establishment of two new Marine Protected Areas in the Southern Ocean: one in East Antarctica and the other in the Weddell Sea. The representatives of the participating countries expressed their support for the establishment of the Marine Protected Areas in the Southern Ocean in the form of a Ministerial Joint Declaration, which was presented by the Commissioner Sinkevičius on behalf of all participants.

Poland has been a member of CCAMLR (The Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources) since its establishment in 1982. The organization was established to protect the Antarctic marine ecosystem and its rational use, as well as to counteract illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing in the area. The members of the Commission include 25 countries and the European Union.