Arctic nations and fishing powers sign ‘historic’ agreement on fishery

Officials from five Arctic countries and five major distant fishing powers reached an “unprecedented” agreement Thursday on a legally binding international accord that will protect nearly three million square kilometres of the Central Arctic Ocean from unregulated fishing.

Radio Canada International

Once signed, the agreement will prevent commercial fishing in the high seas of the world’s smallest ocean for at least 16 years while scientific research is conducted to learn more about its marine life and resources. “It’s the first time an international agreement of this magnitude has been reached before any commercial fishing takes place on a region of the high seas,” Dominic LeBlanc, Canada’s Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, said in an emailed statement to Radio Canada International. “Under this legally binding agreement, all parties agree that no commercial fishing will take place in the high seas portion of the central Arctic Ocean while we gain a better understanding of the area’s ecosystems, and appropriate conservation and management measures can be established.”

Karmenu Vella, EU Commissioner for the Environment, Fisheries and Maritime Affairs, said the agreement “will fill an important gap in the international ocean governance framework and will safeguard fragile marine ecosystems for future generations.” 

‘Precautionary approach’

Officials from the so-called Arctic Five – Canada, Norway, Russia, Denmark (Greenland and the Faroe Islands), the United States – reached the agreement with officials from the major fishing powers – Iceland, Japan, South Korea, China and the European Union – during the sixth round of negotiations in Washington D.C. Inuit from Canada, Greenland, the Russian region of Chukotka and Alaska represented by the Inuit Circumpolar Council are also part of the agreement. Click here to read more