French Colonies - Southern & Antarctic Territories

The French Southern and Antarctic Territories — Terres Australes et Antarctiques Françaises (TAAF) — form an overseas territory of France, established in 1955, that consists of several groups of islands in the southern Indian Ocean and a sector of Antarctica (see maps) that is claimed by France. (Hereafter, both the territory and its governing body will be referred to simply as “TAAF”.)

The Antarctic territory is called Adélie Coast (Terre Adélie). It includes the area between 136° and 143° east longitude south of the Antarctic Circle and is about 389,000 km² (150,200 mi²) in area. A staffed research station is located at Base Dumont d'Urville, with a smaller satellite base at Cap Prud'homme established to support supply runs to the inland Franco-Italian base Concordia on Dome C.

TAAF's island components include the Kerguelen Archipelago, a group of one large and some 300 small islands, with a total area of about 7,000 km² (2,700 mi²); the Crozet Archipelago, consisting of 5 large and 15 tiny islands, with a combined area of about 300 km² (116 mi²); St. Paul Island, which is about 7 km² (2.7 mi²); and Amsterdam Island (Nouvelle-Amsterdam), with an area of 60 km² (23 mi²). All are rugged volcanic islands, uninhabited except for the various research stations:

The UNESCO World Heritage Convention describes the TAAF districts as an “oasis”, covering an area of over 166 million hectares (640,930 mi²), with “one of the highest concentrations of birds and marine mammals in the world.”

In January 2005, the TAAF office also assumed the administration of several small tropical islands and an atoll in the waters surrounding Madagascar, known collectively as the Scattered Islands (fr. Îles Éparses): Bassas da India, Europa, Juan de Nova, Les Îles Glorieuses (Glorioso Islands), and Tromelin (see map). They were previously administered as dependencies of Madagascar, and then (after Madagascar became independent) as dependencies of Réunion. All of these islands are wildlife sanctuaries, closed to visitors except by special permit. Certain islands host small French military posts. Sovereignty over some or all of the islands is contested by the Comoros, Madagascar, and Mauritius.

The TAAF administration is based in Saint-Pierre, Réunion, under the authority of a Prefect (presently Florence Jeanblanc-Risler, since 10/2022) who is appointed by the French government. TAAF is responsible for the operational management of its various bases — including construction, building maintenance, water, electricity, fuel, resupply, and related logistics. Most on-site logistical tasks are handled by French military personnel on annual rotations.

A consultative committee with representatives from civil and military administrations, scientists, and the fishing industry advises the administrator.

The Institut Polaire Français Paul-Émile Victor (IPEV) is charged with maintenance of the scientific laboratories, installation of new research facilities and equipment, supplies and upkeep, and renovation of remote shelters (fr. les cabanes) used for the different science programs. In coordination with TAAF, IPEV is involved in the recruiting, interviewing, and qualification process for hiring base scientists.

Guidelines for the medical screening — physical and psychological — of TAAF and IPEV expedition personnel are stringent, in consideration of the districts' isolated nature and the challenges posed by medical evacuation (up to 10 days by ship, depending on the location).

CNRS, the French National Center for Scientific Research (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) conducts extensive studies on a variety of disciplines, including marine and atmospheric conditions, glaciology, biodiversity, and climate change. CNRS conducts research on the geological history of Antarctica, including drilling into ice cores to reconstruct past climates and understand the evolution of the ice sheet.

CNES, the French National Center for Space Studies (Centre National d'Études Spatiales) established under President Charles de Gaulle in 1961, maintains a prominent presence on Kerguelen Island, with a complex 4 km (2.5 mi.) east of the Port-aux-Français base where it has been tracking French and European satellites since 1985. There is another monitoring station on the Crozet Islands at the Alfred-Faure base on Île de la Possession. CNES also has a presence on Amsterdam Island, although its exact nature (satellite tracking station or other) is not specified in public search results.

Commercial Exploitation (19th - 20th Centuries)

Following the discoveries and its initial claims of subantarctic islands, France allowed long periods of time to elapse before revisiting or laying permanent claim to them, even abandoning prior claims (Amsterdam and St. Paul) at one point. Entrepreneurial sealers and whalers from other countries — notably the Americans from Nantucket, soon followed by the British and Norwegians — availed themselves of the sovereignty gap to exploit the live resources, even to the point of near-extinction of some pinniped species.

Eventually, French kings and later governments of the Republic came to realize that there were potential profits to be made from these resources. Thus, commercial activities marked the early history of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands, leading to significant ecological consequences — some unintentional, others quite consciously undertaken.

• Sealing and Whaling: In the 19th and early 20th centuries, sealers and whalers exploited the region's populations of pinnipeds and cetaceans. At its outset, it was quite a lucrative industry, owing to the demand for lamp oil; fur seal skins were also highly prized in China, where they were used for clothing trim, coats, and muffs.

The Bossière brothers, Henry and René-Émile, subcontracted a whale oil processing facility to a Norwegian company, Aktieselskabet Kerguelen (A/S Kerguelen), at Port-Jeanne-d'Arc (PJDA, or Péjida in Taafien). It operated from 1908 to 1911 before being abandoned. Many traces of the old equipment remain; some of the buildings were restored by TAAF between 1977 and 2007, due to their historic nature.

But the French weren't done with seal hunting after the Bossière brothers' venture. Marc Péchenart's company, SIDAP — Société Industrielle des Abattoirs Parisiens (en. Industrial Society of Parisian Slaughterhouses) — operated an elephant seal processing plant equipped with Australian machinery at Port-aux-Français from 1957 to 1960 before closing down. The disused equipment was finally sent to Réunion in 2005.

• Fishing on a grand scale: The Patagonian toothfish (Dissostichus eleginoides), also known as Chilean sea bass, became a valuable commodity by the latter half of the 20th century. Illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing activities pose a significant threat to marine ecosystems. Fish populations have declined due to overfishing, and poachers from various countries are often hard to apprehend.

• A number of other ventures were also attempted, with mixed and — in some cases — grievous results: breeding cattle on Amsterdam (1871), given up after only 7 months; raising sheep at Port-Couvreux (1912), tragically unsuccessful, as a forlorn graveyard of family members attests; salmon farming/hatchery at Lac d'Armor (1984-1991), moderately successful albeit short-lived after much trial-and-error.

• In 1877, a French company attempted coal mining on Kerguelen Island, but the operation was soon abandoned due to the poor quality of the coal.

• Philately (stamps are only issued for use in the TAAF) and fishing (with strict lobster and fish quotas) are the only recent “commercial” activities in the TAAF. The territory generates revenues of about €16 million (US$18.1 million) a year.

Shift in Attitudes and UNESCO World Heritage Status

Toponymy of the TAAF Districts

Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs)

Summary

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