International agreement bans commercial fishing in the Arctic

Public Domain U.S. Geological Survey / Flickr As melting ice opens up new potential for exploitation in the Arctic, a new ban aims to protect much of the fragile ecosystem. It’s a case of "great news!" … that comes with the poignant follow-up of "oh, that’s rough" … and then a denouement of "ok, at least we’re thinking this mess through." Great that a group of nine nations plus the EU have come together to sign an agreement to ban commercial fishing. Rough that the need to do so arises from the fact that a warming climate has opened the Arctic to vessels that would have been unable to navigate there previously. OK that the powers that be are thinking ahead and putting protections in place before things get completely tanked. Welcome to the new normal. Fiona Harvey reports on the agreement for The Guardian , explaining that the moratorium on Arctic fishing will safeguard an area about the size of the Mediterranean for at least the next 16 years. With sea ice levels consistently hitting new lows over the last decade, large vessels are now able to navigate areas that were previously all ice. In August, the first […]

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