Arctic fishery meeting makes progress, but no agreement yet

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. (MAP COURTESY OF PEW CHARITABLE TRUSTS)

An international meeting on the future of commercial fishing in the central Arctic Ocean made “good progress,” but did not reach a final agreement last week.

Canada hosted the three-day, closed-door meeting July 6 to July 8 in Iqaluit. This was the third round of negotiations towards a potential agreement that would regulate commercial fishing in the high seas — an expanse of more than two and half million square kilometres.

Canada welcomed nine international delegations, from coastal Arctic nations including the United States, Russia, Norway, Kingdom of Denmark (in respect of Greenland and the Faroe Islands) along with Iceland, China, Japan, South Korea, and the European Union.

The Canadian delegation was led by the federal Department of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard and included representatives from the Government of Nunavut and Inuit Circumpolar Council Canada.

In a July 12 email to Nunatsiaq News, DFO said the delegations made “good progress in resolving differences of view on a number of main issues under discussion. There was a general belief that these discussions have the possibility of concluding successfully in the near future.”

DFO Minister Dominic LeBlanc, who did not attend the Iqaluit meeting, supports the development of an international agreement that would prevent unregulated fishing in the high seas, the department said.

The negotiations were meant to build on a declaration signed last summer, when the five countries agreed to a voluntary ban on commercial fishing in the Central Arctic Ocean, at least until there’s been more scientific research done in the region to gauge fish stocks and the general marine environment.

Though frozen year-round, a warming climate risks opening the central Arctic Ocean to commercial fishing interests. The permanent ice that has covered the Arctic Ocean for tens of thousands of years is starting to melt.

In 2012, about 40 per cent of the central Arctic Ocean was open water—the region that is beyond each nation’s 200-mile fishing limit.

Denmark has expressed interest in hosting the next round of negotiations, tentatively set for fall 2016.