The European Union took part in the third round of international negotiations on measures to prevent unregulated fishing in the Arctic high seas. The meeting took place from 29 November to 1 December 2016 in Torshavn on the Faroe Islands (see EUROPE 11539).
Fisheries and Maritime Affairs Commissioner Karmenu Vella said he had been encouraged by the strong desire and willingness of all parties to take measures to prevent unregulated commercial high seas fishing in the central Arctic Ocean. “The safeguarding of healthy marine ecosystems in the central Arctic Ocean is a priority in the EU’s Arctic policy as well as our Ocean Governance initiative. We need to fill this important gap in the current ocean governance system”, he stated in a press release on Friday 2 December.
At present, no commercial fisheries take place in the Arctic high seas. However, as a result of climate change, the Arctic sea ice cover, including parts of the high seas in the central Arctic, has been receding in recent years and it cannot be ruled out that, in the medium to long term, the ecosystem may change and fish stocks may become commercially viable and fishing will begin there, the Commission says.
Several Arctic coastal states (European Union, Canada, China, Kingdom of Denmark in respect of the Faroe Islands and Greenland, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Norway, Russian Federation and United States met on the Faroe Islands to try to make progress on an agreement to prevent unregulated fishing in the Arctic. The delegations made good progress on the basis of a draft text for a legally binding agreement as a first step for possibly moving towards one or more additional regional fisheries management organisations or arrangements for the Central Arctic Ocean. The next, and possibly final, round of negotiations is to take place in the first quarter of 2017 and will be hosted by the government of Iceland. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)