New declaration binds Arctic coastal states to fishing ban

“Although this is a good start, we need a binding international agreement”

By NUNATSIAQ NEWS

This map shows the Arctic Ocean's so-called


This map shows the Arctic Ocean’s so-called “donut hole,” or area of international waters which is outside the 200-mile exclusive economic zone of any coastal Arctic state. The five coastal states, including Canada, signed a declaration July 16 which prevents them from commercial fishing in those international waters but it does not bind other states to the same moratorium. (MAP COURTESY PEW CHARITABLE TRUST)

Gone. Fishing.

The five Arctic coastal states have agreed to an official ban on unregulated commercial fishing in open waters of the Arctic Ocean.

Canada, the United States, Norway, Russia and Denmark—representing Greenland—signed a declaration July 16 at meetings in Oslo, Norway, to protect the so-called “donut hole” at the top of the world from over-fishing before more is known about the fish stocks and potentially fragile ecosystem there.

To that end, the five countries stated in their declaration that they “intend to authorize their vessels to conduct any future commercial fishing in this area only once one or more international mechanisms are in place to manage any such fishing in accordance with recognized international standards,” said a July 16 news release from the U.S. State Department.

According to that release, the declaration acknowledges that other non-Arctic states might be interested in trawling the Arctic Ocean’s waters.

And so the five signatories also commit to initiating a “broader process” to develop binding measures that might cover other states with potential fishing interests.

Members of the Inuit Circumpolar Council applauded the international fishing moratorium.

“ICC supports such a precautionary approach and we encourage other nations to follow this lead and sign the agreement,” said Okalik Eegeesiak, ICC chair, in a July 17 news release.

The declaration halts commercial fishing “pending further research on fish stocks and the development of a sustainable management regime that includes Inuit traditional knowledge,” says the ICC Canada news release.

“The reduction in multi-year ice and longer ice free time in the high Arctic waters as a result of climate change have made this region more accessible to foreign ships and potential environmental damage,” said Jimmy Stotts, president of ICC-Alaska, in that same release.

“We are not saying we oppose commercial fishing but rather we must take a precautionary approach, listen to the Inuit and do the appropriate studies.”

Duane Smith, president of ICC-Canada, said he was also pleased with the new declaration. But he cautioned that this really only binds the five signatories to the new rules and does not apply to countries such as China and Japan, which are known to go fishing in international waters outside the 200-mile exclusive economic zones enjoyed by coastal states.

“Although this is a good start, we need a binding international agreement,” Smith said.

Each of the five signatory countries has jurisdiction over waters 200 miles off their coastline, but beyond that is open, unregulated territory.

Up until recently, the central ocean area has been locked in ice but that sea ice is shrinking annually and scientists have predicted the Arctic Ocean could be ice-free in summer within 30 years.

Very little is known about fish stocks there and how quickly they reproduce.

This declaration flows from an agreement-in-principle signed at a similar meeting in Nuuk in February 2014.

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