United States Arctic Fishing Policy Latest in Can-Am Dispute
Scientists examine ice conditions in the Beaufort Sea north of Alaska in this January 2009 file photo. A U.S. moratorium on new fisheries in the Beaufort Sea has highlighted a long-simmering boundary dispute with Canada in the Arctic waters north of Yukon and Alaska. Photograph by: Handout, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
A U.S. moratorium on new fisheries in the Beaufort Sea has highlighted a long-simmering boundary dispute with Canada in the Arctic waters north of Yukon and Alaska.
The new U.S. policy, announced last week by Commerce Secretary Gary Locke as a “precautionary” measure pending further study of the rapidly changing polar environment, covers a huge swath of the Arctic Ocean north of Alaska and running east to the U.S.-Canada maritime boundary — including a contentious, 11,500-sq.-km. expanse of water that both countries claim.
Crafted by the regional fishery management council in Alaska, the new Arctic Fishery Management Plan closes about 150,000 square nautical miles, an area larger than California and five times larger than all national parks combined.
There is currently no significant commercial fishing in the area, but fisheries managers expect it to become a target for commercial fishers chasing cod and snow crab as ice melts and fisheries shift north. Fishing fleets from around the globe are signalling an interest in moving into an area that hold stocks of crab, Arctic cod, and, increasingly, limited numbers of pollack and salmon as they migrate north. There are major fishing grounds south of the new protected area. Alaska’s Bering Sea is the United States’ “fish basket,” with about 60 percent of U.S. commercial landings, according to the state fishing industry.
A Canadian government spokesman told Canwest News Service this week that the U.S. fishing moratorium “does not alter Canada’s legal position with respect to the bilateral dispute regarding the maritime delimitation of part of the Beaufort Sea.”
Department of Foreign Affairs spokesman Alain Cacchione stated in an e-mail that “Canadian sovereignty over the lands, islands and waters of the Canadian Arctic is long-standing, well-established and based on historic title” — an oft-repeated message from the federal government when it comes to Arctic sovereignty issues.
While noting that Canada “shares concerns with the U.S. on proper management of living marine resources in the Arctic,” and that the Beaufort Sea boundary dispute is “well managed by both sides,” the government’s statement acknowledges the possibility that the two countries may ultimately pursue different conservation strategies in the region despite last week’s “unilateral” decision by the U.S.
“The U.S. has made some unilateral closures in their waters and in a disputed zone in the Arctic as their expression of ‘precaution’ in the absence of information,” the statement said. “However, closures are only one tool for addressing sustainability risks. Other tools, such as exploratory fisheries protocols, area closures, etc., are risk-based yet compatible with sustainable use.”
University of Calgary political scientist Rob Huebert, who argues that Canada is likely to face mounting jurisdictional challenges from the U.S. and Russia as Arctic shipping and fishing open up in the future, said the Canadian response to the U.S. moratorium appears to be “more assertive” than previous statements about the disputed Beaufort zone.
“I think it’s good, the way this response says they’re obviously not pleased with this,” Huebert told Canwest News Service from Iqaluit, where he’s observing a Canadian Forces sovereignty operation. “Usually it’s, ‘Don’t worry, be happy, this isn’t an issue.’ The fact that they’re noting the ‘unilateral’ moratorium is significant. This is obviously going to be aggravating the situation.”
Canada may well choose to follow the U.S. lead and impose a temporary ban on commercial fishing in the Canadian Beaufort, including the area of overlapping claims. Former fisheries scientist Burton Ayles, a federal appointee to the Inuvialuit region’s Fisheries Joint Management Committee, told Canwest News Service earlier this week that discussions about declaring a moratorium on industrial-scale commercial fisheries have already begun in Western Arctic communities.
The committee members, coastal communities and environmental groups are all cautious about exploiting potential new resources until more is known about the viability of fish populations migrating into warming Arctic waters and the long-term impact of climate change in the region.
Huebert said despite the wisdom of the precautionary approach being pursued by both countries when it comes to new Arctic fisheries, the U.S. officials drafting the terms of the moratorium pointedly failed to acknowledge that a sizable portion of the area affected by the policy is in disputed waters.
He argues that shows the U.S. is “taking a harder line” when it comes to asserting its own interests in the Arctic — a move he said is consistent with the tough tone in a January presidential directive on the Arctic issued in the final days of the Bush administration.
“They’ve moved away from the softer language of the disputed zone into what I would interpret as clearer position — and a more assertive position — on what they see as their slice of the Beaufort Sea.”
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