Russia is now the only country holding back support to create marine protected areas (MPA) in Antarctica, and is facing international pressure to agree to the plan.

A meeting of 24 countries is underway in Hobart, and members are set to spend the next fortnight deciding if they should protect the waters of the Ross Sea and East Antarctica.

The issue has been before the international committee for more than five years.

The Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) plans to create nine marine reserves around Antarctica.

But despite years of negotiations, the 24 countries and the European Union that make up the group have not even managed to agree on how to manage the reserves, let alone create any.

The Ross Sea marine reserve looks set to be the first, but only if Russia agrees.

Proposed Marine Protected Areas map. ( Department of the Environment and Energy, Australian Antarctic Division )

Chris Johnson, from the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), said without the protection of marine reserves important Antarctic species such as krill and penguins could be at risk.

"We're concerned the climate will have a profound effect long term on the Antarctic," he said.

"Marine protected areas in the Ross Sea and East Antarctica are key to protecting wildlife, the habitats and their prey."

Dr Mark Belchier Bell, the chair of CCAMLR's Scientific Committee, said the group was moving in the right direction, but it seemed that Russia was continuing to hold out.

"It might be the case that they won't agree to the MPA as currently set out in the Ross Sea this year."

Dr Belchier said there were a number of reasons as to why Russia would be reluctant to sign up, one of which was its desire to hold further discussions to deal with concerns about how much of the sea the MPA would cover and the areas to be included.

"And also they would like further consideration about the review process and the monitoring that's undertaken the MPA to assess its efficacies as it evolves."

Without the protection of marine reserves important Antarctic species such as krill and penguins could be at risk. ( Supplied: AMC )

Limited time protections could 'set a dangerous precedent'

Cassandra Brooks, a Stanford University academic, said too many compromises had been made in the negotiating process, and the environmental protections would be too weak.

"Generally across the board marine protected areas are adopted in perpetuity, so they don't have an expiration date," she said.

"And right now what's happening in CCAMLR is that based on negotiating, [they] have MPA's in place for somewhere between 20 to 50 years.

"So this would actually not even meet the conservation objectives."

Ms Brooks said that if CCAMLR only protected the waters around Antarctica for a limited time it would set a dangerous precedent for marine protected areas around the world.