Call for action

In 2018, ten states—Canada, the EU, Denmark/Greenland, Iceland, Japan, Norway, China, South Korea, Russia and the USA—banned commercial fishing in the Central Arctic Ocean under a precautionary, cooperative governance model. As the region warms and its ice retreats, proposals for new shipping routes and deep-sea mining threaten fragile ecosystems and Indigenous communities, risking the very principles that shaped the Fisheries Agreement.

Scientists are now calling for a fresh moratorium on all industrial activity in the Central Arctic Ocean until robust frameworks for joint research, monitoring, data-sharing and governance are in place. First warned by over 2,000 researchers in 2012, subsequent studies have underscored the CAO’s critical role in global currents, climate systems and biodiversity.

Over 1000 Scientists, including 8 from Iceland, and 4 from HA have signed a letter urging Arctic governments take a lead in developing an international agreement that protects the CAO and its ecosystems, adopts a precautionary approach based on Indigenous and scientific knowledge that pauses new industrial activities in the CAO, and promotes international cooperation and collaboration for research, monitoring, data-sharing, and development of governance mechanisms appropriate for this crucially important international region.

NEWS: Global Scientists Demand Action for the Central Arctic Ocean - Ocean Conservancy