THE US and New Zealand are holding one-on-one talks in Hobart to try to end an impasse over the creation of an historic marine protection area in Antarctica's Ross Sea.
The head of the US delegation at the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) meeting says both countries are aware they will need to compromise if an agreement is to be reached.
The meeting is hoping to establish the world's largest marine protection area (MPA) after a deadline of this year was set in 2002.
The US and NZ have presented competing plans for the Ross Sea after originally working on a common proposal.
The NZ plan is for a larger area but the US proposal is favoured by environmental groups because it puts more restrictions on fishing.
NZ is anxious to protect its toothfish industry, while the US proposal would set up a no-fishing reference area for scientific research.
"If you have an MPA you have to establish objectives for the MPA," head of the US delegation Evan Bloom said.
"Our objectives are somewhat different and to establish this type of reference area is one of our objectives, and so I think that leads to some differences.
"Both have been presented and both are under discussion and indeed we're talking with New Zealand at the same time."
CCAMLR's consensus model means all members will need to agree on a proposal.
Mr Bloom, who is director of the US Office of Ocean and Polar Affairs, said he was hopeful a deal could be struck.
"I think that both of us understand that compromise is needed and that we're needing to work together," he said.
"Indeed we and New Zealand have worked for more than two years on these proposals and we came close to having a joint proposal.
"We didn't quite get there but we're working co-operatively together and I hope we can manage it."
But he said meeting the 2012 deadline was not the most important consideration.
"It's kind of an aspirational goal," he said.
"What's most important is that progress be made, not the year, and from our point of view that we achieve meaningful conservation objectives.
"I'd love to have it happen this year. My main concern is that it be done and done well."
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has taken a personal interest in the progress of the talks, which will conclude next week.
"She has been active in talking with other leaders about the issue of marine protected areas and also with respect to this particular Ross Sea proposal, and she thinks it's important that we make progress in this area," Mr Bloom said.
The US will support two other MPA proposals on the table, one a joint Australian/French initiative for an area of east Antarctica and the other an EU move to protect ice shelves.
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