The New World of Arctic Fisheries

Last year I attended the first International Arctic Fisheries Symposium which was held at the Captain Cook Hotel in Anchorage from 19-21 October.  The conference bought together scientists, indigenous leaders and policy makers from around the Arctic.  The meeting sought to:

• initiate international discussions for conserving and managing future fisheries in the Arctic Ocean, including managing migratory, transboundary and straddling fish stocks.
• identify current management regimes in the Arctic region and how relevant scientific  and fisheries data can be used to inform future management decisions.
• identify gaps in existing management regimes and potential steps to address those gaps, as well as the need for improved scientific programs to support conservation and management of future Arctic fisheries.

The symposium proceedings and presentations have just been published and are well worth a read through - they highlight the profound range of changes already being experienced in the Arctic (from massive changes in ice cover to introductions of new species), the potential for significant further ecological, bio-physical and social changes and the need for a greater level of international coperation in research, planning and management of Artic resources. 

For example, the science panel of the symposium panel observed that "climate impacts are more than temperature change – they include more fresh water discharges into Arctic water with rivers open for longer periods of time; more wind, ocean acidification; increase in ocean and land methane discharges; longer warm season in the fall and spring that will change ocean/sea algae blooms and sea life production cycles; and species movements from warm to colder waters including the potential introduction of predators and diseases".

Full details are available online at:
http://www.nprb.org/iafs2009/