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The central Arctic Ocean-preventing another tragedy of the commons

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 October 2016

Andrew J. Norris  and
Patrick McKinley
Andrew J. Norris
Affiliation:
U.S. Coast Guard Academy, Center for Arctic Study and Policy, 31 Mohegan Avenue, New London, Connecticut 06320–8103, USA ([email protected])
Patrick McKinley
Affiliation:
Roger Williams University, 1 Old Ferry Rd, Bristol, Rhode Island 02809, USA ([email protected])
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Abstract

Arctic sea ice is melting, slowly but inexorably. As the ice disappears, mankind will be afforded access to regions and activities, including commercial fishing, that have been inaccessible for our entire recorded history. There is currently no regulatory body or mechanism in the high seas Arctic (also referred to as the central Arctic Ocean) to conserve and manage fish stocks, the distribution and concentration of which are poorly understood, and that might be the target of commercial fisheries. This article examines the extent and nature of ice recession in the Arctic, and its likely effect on the accessibility of central Arctic ocean fisheries to commercial exploitation. It then discusses what is known of Arctic fish stocks, both those already extant, and those that might become established or enhanced as a result of changing environmental conditions. It examines international regimes for managing fish stocks that exist either in whole or in part in global maritime commons, and existing fisheries governance mechanisms in the Arctic, and finds them to be lacking. Finally, using the Bering Sea Arctic pollock stock collapse case study as a historical analogue, this article contends that the time is now for putting in place a regional fisheries management organisation to manage and conserve central Arctic Ocean fish stocks.

Type
Research Article
Information
Polar Record , Volume 53 , Issue 1 , January 2017 , pp. 43 - 51
Creative Commons
This is a work of the U.S. Government and is not subject to copyright protection in the United States.
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2016

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