Agreement to prevent unregulated high seas fisheries in the Central Arctic Ocean

KEY POINTS

• The Arctic Region covers the area around the North Pole. It includes the Arctic Ocean and the territories of 8 Arctic countries: Canada, Denmark (including Greenland and the Faroe Islands), Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden and the United States.
• The Agreement was signed by Canada, China, Denmark (in respect of the Faroe Islands and Greenland), the European Union, Iceland, Japan, South Korea, Norway, Russia and the United States.
• The agreement is precautionary — until recently, ice has covered the high seas portion of the Central Arctic Ocean all year round, making fishing in those waters impossible. However, global warming has significantly reduced ice coverage, which may open up this area to fishing in the future.
• The agreement is based on the principles set out in United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the Agreement for the Implementation of the United Nations Convention relating to the Conservation and Management of Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks and the 1995 Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries.

Scope

• The agreement covers fish, molluscs and crustaceans — except those belonging to sedentary species as defined in the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.
• The parties agree not to engage in commercial fishing activities in the high seas portion of the Central Arctic Ocean for an initial period of 16 years after the agreement enters into force. This period can be extended automatically every 5 years, unless one party objects.

Joint programme of scientific research and monitoring

The agreement will establish a joint programme of scientific research and monitoring to improve the understanding of the ecosystems of the Central Arctic Ocean and, in particular, to determine whether there might be fish stocks in this area that could be harvested sustainably.

Conservation and management measures

The parties can only authorise vessels registered in their country to carry out commercial fishing if they follow:

• internationally recognised conservation and management measures for the sustainable management of fish stocks adopted by one or more regional or subregional fisheries management organisation(s) or arrangement(s); or
• interim conservation and management measures that may be established by the parties.

Review and further implementation

• A review of the agreement and of the scientific information obtained through the joint programme will take place at least every 2 years.
• Conservation and management measures for exploratory fishing in the area will be established within 3 years of the Agreement coming into force.