The five countries agreed and stated in the declaration that they will only intend to authorize their vessels to conduct any future commercial fishing in this area only once one or more worldwide mechanisms are in place to manage any fishing activity in accordance to recognized worldwide standards.
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Norway also provided the exact same ban against its trawlers from in use in internationaly ocean.
Scientists assess that Central Arctic is expected to have more fish stocks as ice starts melting during the summer.
Even if the Arctic Ocean remains icebound, the sea warming has left parcels of the ocean open to different kinds of ships.
The United States initiated this five-state process consistent with congressional direction under Public Law 110-243, which calls for the United States to take steps with other Arctic nations to negotiate an agreement for managing fish stocks in the Arctic Ocean, as well as the Implementation Plan for the 2013 National Strategy for the Arctic Region, which commits the United States to prevent unregulated high seas fisheries in the Arctic.
The joint agreement came as a yearly report on the world’s climate, indicating that the ocean surface’ temperatures reached its highest level in 135 years.
In the interim pact, the member nations have pledged to begin “a broader process” on regulating commercial fishing in the Arctic Ocean.
“Climate change is affecting the migration patterns of fish stocks”, said Borge Brende, Foreign minister of Norway. That is why the incremental Oslo pact has been hailed by environmental groups despite lamenting its short term nature.
The Arctic states, through this agreement have acknowledged the extraordinary environment of the Arctic Ocean, requiring better scientific understanding, reported by Arctic specialist Sophie Allain. But she regretted the missed chance in delivering a “permanent protection this area desperately needs”.
The agreement does not prohibit fishing in territorial waters, an important source of livelihood for indigenous populations across the Arctic and, in Russian Federation, for fishing fleets that operate in The ice-free waters of the Barents Sea. As reported by fishermen near Murmansk, cod stocks are moving farther from the shore in recent years.
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A 21-member United Nations arbitration panel is considering the competing claims, with the focus on the Lomonosov Ridge, A 1,800km-long (1,120 miles) underwater mountain range that splits the Arctic in two.
