For the first time in 80 years, a British Navy ship will patrol the Ross Sea, with HMS Protector setting out to target Patagonian toothfish poachers. The British Navy is supporting the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) in this effort.

The Ross Sea region has traditionally been patrolled by vessels from Australia and New Zealand, but under the Antarctic Treaty, other nations are cooperating to crack down on illegal fishing.

Captain Rory Bryan advised media that British Navy's mission this southern summer is to support the Australians and New Zealanders to police those waters and to uphold the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources to deter illegal fishing operations in the Ross Sea.

According to a report from ABC News - Australia, the Protector and its 75 crew, which includes a boarding party of marines, will have the power to board and inspect boats.

"If they're not correct in any way, shape or form, we will clearly report them and make sure that they don't do the illegal fishing again," Captain Rory Bryan said.

The mission will not involve tracking Japanese whaling boats.

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