As part of an initiative to ensure all licensed fishing vessels are of a good standard, the Government of South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands, GSGSSI, are undertaking inspections of all vessels to check their compliance with the Torremolinos Protocol on Fishing Vessel Safety, reports the latest edition of the South Georgia Newsletter.
South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands are currently promoting the release of a set of stamps commemorating the life of the former Falklands and dependencies governor Sir Rex Hunt. The release of the stamps on June 11 coincided with a memorial service for Sir Rex Hunt at St Clement Danes, the Central Church of the Royal Air Force, London.
Donald Lamont, a former British ambassador and former governor of the Falkland Islands took over as chairman of the United Kingdom Antarctic Heritage Trust. He replaces Philippa Foster Back, who retires from the position having served as trustee since 2000 and chair for the past seven years.
HMS Protector, the Royal Navy’s Ice Patrol Ship, has returned to Portsmouth at the end of a nine-month deployment to the ‘Frozen Continent’. Operating in the British Antarctic Territory, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands throughout the Austral Summer, the ship conducted three intensive work periods in the ice, and a fourth work period in the waters surrounding South Georgia.
News this week that Argentina had decided to undertake fisheries research in the South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands (SGSSI) is not connected in any way to the Falklands, Acting Governor Sandra Tyler-Haywood has assured.
The Buenos Aires media is reporting a potential incident situation in South Georgia waters which could erupt into something more complicated from the moment the Argentine research vessel ‘Eduardo Holmberg’ has been involved in scientific activities in a zone which last year was declared by the UK as a Maritime Protected Area, MPA, and which Argentina does not recognize since it considers it ‘an area in dispute’.
The Foreign Office said that the UK is striving to ensure that all fishing undertaken in the Southern Ocean is carefully managed and sustainable and that the current FCO focus is supporting international work to establish a network of Southern Ocean Marine Protected Areas.
Argentina claimed at the CELAC summit in Chile that the UK has converted the Falkland Islands into one of the “most militarized territories in the world” with the sole purpose of exploiting the natural resources of the Islands and control access to Antarctica.
The reestablishment of a Falklands Department at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has been announced by Peter Hayes, Director of the Overseas Territories, on Wednesday.
Argentina is strongly committed with multilateralism and trusts in the UN to reach a fair, peaceful and long lasting solution to the sovereignty dispute in the Malvinas issue, said Ambassador Maria Cristina Perceval during her Friday credentials presentation ceremony with Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.