Fisheries Enforcement on the High Seas of the Arctic Ocean: Gaps, Solutions and the Potential Contribution of the European Union and Its Member States

Abstract

Although there is no fishing activity within the central Arctic Ocean at present, commercial fishing activity does occur in the high seas areas of the North Atlantic and North Pacific, and within the exclusive economic zone of the Arctic coastal States. Climate change will most probably lead to an increase in fishing activity, through the reduction in sea ice, opening up new areas of the Arctic to fisheries, including the Central Arctic Ocean. This prospect has fuelled intensive negotiations -still ongoing -for the signing of a legally binding agreement to prevent unregulated fisheries therein. What seems missing, though, from both the ongoing negotiations on this agreement and the scholarly literature is reference to fisheries enforcement in the Arctic. Accordingly, this article identifies the most effective tools that could be employed for fisheries enforcement purposes, including port and flag State measures, and addresses their potential application in the Arctic.

New distribution records of fish species found in the Central Arctic Ocean

“…The accelerated melting of sea ice causes dramatic environmental changes (Serreze and Barry 2011; IPCC 2021) and facilitates potential commercial shing (Christiansen et al 2014), one of the most destructive human behaviours (Pitcher and Cheung 2013; Papastavridis 2018), and both would have crucial impacts on the marine ecosystem (Post et al 2013;Mueter et al 2017). Fish are usually the most important components of marine ecosystems, and to protect the CAO, it is more feasible to develop scienti c sheries than to make the enormous effort to slow global warming, as more than 2,000 scientists from 67 countries called for in 2012 (Christiansen et al 2014;Papastavridis 2018). In June 2021, the rst shery agreement in the CAO, the Agreement to Prevent Unregulated High Seas Fisheries in the Central Arctic Ocean, nally came into force, six years after the Oslo Declaration (Papastavridis 2018; Government of Canada 2021).…”

“…Fish are usually the most important components of marine ecosystems, and to protect the CAO, it is more feasible to develop scienti c sheries than to make the enormous effort to slow global warming, as more than 2,000 scientists from 67 countries called for in 2012 (Christiansen et al 2014;Papastavridis 2018). In June 2021, the rst shery agreement in the CAO, the Agreement to Prevent Unregulated High Seas Fisheries in the Central Arctic Ocean, nally came into force, six years after the Oslo Declaration (Papastavridis 2018; Government of Canada 2021).…”