The Council of the EU intend to stop unregulated fishing in the Arctic.
The Arctic becomes safe from commercial fishing for 16 years
EUROPEAN UNION
Monday, March 11, 2019, 21:00 (GMT + 9)
The Council of the EU agreed to join the international agreement signed in October 2108 by the five States on the coast of the Arctic Ocean to prevent unregulated fishing in that area.
The five states directly involved, which are Canada, Denmark - representing Greenland and the Faroe Islands - Norway, Russia and the United States, were joined by China, the EU, Iceland, Japan and South Korea. The agreement aims to prevent unregulated fishing in the high seas area of the central Arctic Ocean by implementing preventive conservation and management measures within a long-term strategy to safeguard marine ecosystems and ensure conservation and sustainable use of fish stocks.
It is the first time that an international conservation and management agreement has protected the Arctic high seas area.
Historic deal to stop non-regulated fishing in the highseas in the Arctic Ocean
Ice
The fact that this agreement has come now is not strange if one takes into account that, until not long ago, it was unthinkable that one could fish in the high seas area of that ocean. Thick layers of ice prevented any attempt to fish in those waters. But for some time now, global warming has considerably reduced the ice layers from the central Arctic Ocean. And while commercial fishing is unlikely to "become it viable in that part of the globe," the ecosystems of those latitudes will be "increasingly exposed to human activities and, possibly, illegal fishing," hence the idea to anticipate.
The EU decides to form part of the pioneering international agreement to safeguard this ocean that used to be frozen
Thus, the ten parties affected by this agreement settled to prohibit commercial fishing in the high seas area of the central Arctic for an initial period of 16 years. This moratorium on capture activity will be automatically extended every five years, at least until the scientists confirm that it can work sustainably and until the parties agree on mechanisms to guarantee the sustainability of fish stocks.
"I am proud to announce that the EU will soon be a party to this historic agreement that, for the first time, protects the Arctic Ocean and its fragile ecosystem," said Petre Daea, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development of Romania, the country that occupies this Presidency of the Council. "This is a fundamental step towards achieving greater sustainability and improving the governance of the oceans," he concluded.
Author: E. Abuín / lavozdeasturias.es
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