The Fishing Reserve

The Toothfish in Georgia, South Sandwich and Antarctic Islands (2012-2023)

Abstract

The South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands receive scant attention in academic literature, yet they are an integral part of British power schema in the South Atlantic and crucial to its Antarctic projection.

This article seeks to demonstrate, through the analysis of official sources and transnational organizations, statistics, journalistic and academic articles, that Great Britain has a policy of appropriation of the space and resources of the subantarctic islands, with two facets. One of them, clearly conservationist, is based on the creation and expansion, unilaterally, of Marine Protected Areas in the Georgia and South Sandwich Islands, in search of legitimizing the occupation of these spaces under a preaching of environmental protection of ocean environment.

The second facet, along with the first, is aimed at expanding, also unilaterally, the provision of fishing licenses, especially to fleets from the British Overseas Territories, trading partners and the Commonwealth, which has brought conflicts with historical allies such as the United States. Although the extraction of species of fish is quantitatively lower than in waters adjacent to the Malvinas, this practice contributes to the support of the British occupation in the region.