A law that would protect a massive stretch of Argentina’s seafloor is running out of time for a parliamentary vote, and conservationists are racing to raise awareness before they run into major delays. Creation of the “Blue Hole” reserve in the South Atlantic Ocean would protect thousands of square kilometers of seafloor from bottom trawling and require better working conditions on vessels fishing there. But the bill has stalled in Argentina’s National Congress for years and will expire in November. “[This legislation] is the only tool that exists today to begin protecting the area,” said Valeria Falabella, the director of coastal-marine conservation at the NGO Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) Argentina. She added, “Fishing activity really needs management and review. There aren’t only environmental problems but human rights problems.” The Blue Hole, or Agujero Azul in Spanish, is an area of the Argentine continental shelf off the San Jorge Gulf in southern Patagonia. The shelf looks like an underwater cliff that marks the edge of the continent, where the deeper waters give it a darker-blue hue. Deep-sea currents feed the area with nutrients that sustain an incredible amount of biodiversity, from sponges and corals to southern right whales (Eubalaena australis). This hotbed of marine life straddles the imaginary line 200 nautical miles (370 kilometers) from Argentina’s coast that divides the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ), where it exerts exclusive fishing rights, from international waters. Just beyond the line, global fishing fleets trawl the Blue Hole’s seabed for red shrimp (Pleoticus muelleri),…This article was originally published on Mongabay
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