Commercial fishing in Arctic ocean banned

Norway’s ministry of fisheries said in a statement that commercial fishing in the worldwide waters around the North Pole would likely not take place in the near future. Norway also enforced a similar prohibition against its trawlers from operating in global waters.

A declaration meant to prevent unregulated commercial fishing in waters around the North Pole has been signed by five countries.

Scientists assess that Central Arctic is expected to have more fish stocks as ice starts melting during the summer.

The declaration acknowledges that commercial fishing in this area of Arctic Ocean – which is larger than Alaska and Texas combined – is unlikely to occur in the near future.

The agreement came as an annual report on the world’s climate – released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the American Meteorological Society – said that temperatures on the ocean surface reached the highest levels in 135 years of record keeping.

The increasing temperature, particularly previous year in the Northern Pacific has drawn the fish stocks farther north. Along with the decreasing levels of ice, that development has increased the probability of commercial-scale fishing in the Arctic, once an inaccessible portion. Also, the reduction of Arctic sea ice and other environmental changes in the Arctic, combined with the limited scientific knowledge about the marine resources in the said area, will necessitate a precautionary approach to prevent the unregulated fishing in the area, State.gov reports. Although much of the ocean remains icebound, the warming of the Arctic has left parts of the ocean open to ships of all kinds.

Borge Brende, Norway’s foreign minister said the climate change is certainly affecting the fish stocks’ migration patterns.

Sophie Allain, an Arctic specialist at Greenpeace, commented that the countries around the Arctic region finally recognize the “extraordinary environment” of this fishing area with the new agreement. She added, though, that the agreement has missed the chance in delivering the permanent protection of the area, which it needs desperately.

The Oslo agreement does not clamps any curb on fishing in territorial waters, which is an important source of livelihood for the indigenous populations across the Arctic and Russian Federation, whose fishing fleets operate in The ice-free Barents Sea.