Opening a new ocean: Arctic Ocean fisheries regime as a (potential) turning point for Canada’s Arctic policy

Abstract

This policy brief focuses on the opening of the Central Arctic Ocean and the subsequent questions this poses to regional governance. This change has the potential to radically alter the nature of Arctic governance as non-Arctic states will have to play a significant role in the rules that will apply in the Arctic high seas. Talks about a regional fisheries regime will define the future of this region. The creation of a coordinating agreement would have the benefit of not challenging Arctic states too fundamentally while at the same time incorporating non-Arctic states in a meaningful way in the regional governance infrastructure.In our lifetime, we will experience a reality that no human being ever has: the opening of a new ocean. Indeed, with global warming, the receding ice cover in the Arctic Ocean (once thought eternal) will give way and allow for further human exploration and exploitation. This change carries the potential to profoundly alter Arctic governance by shifting fundamental geopolitical and economic realities. Moreover, circumpolar politics has so far centred on national jurisdictions and issues focused within the territorial seas or exclusive economic zones of coastal