Some rare and very good news coming from the Arctic. The Arctic Council were able to come together and pass a binding agreement on members to a fishing ban in the open waters of the Arctic. Life in the Arctic is being pushed and pushed to the point that whole populations may crash. It won't be a slow and steady rise in mortality it will be quick if things don't change immediately. Anything that helps alleviate the stress on the Arctic eco-system is a good thing. The story does not seem to have made much news outside the Arctic. What an indictment on our liberal media.
NUNATSIAQ NEWS reports:
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.
snip 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.”
Feels good seeing the Arctic get a win. Now we need to bind the non-arctic states to do the same.