By Rebecca Bowe

Jan. 7 (GNT) — Industrial fishing in all US waters north of the Bering Strait is banned until further notice, the North Pacific Fishery Management Council ruled in a unanimous vote on Feb. 5. The precautionary measure aims to protect Arctic marine ecosystems, which are in a precarious position due to the destabilizing effects of global climate change.

Walrus are among the key species threatened by lose of sea ice. Commercial fishing in the Arctic could further effect walrus populations. Photo courtesy of US FWS.

Spanning some 200,000 square miles north of Alaska, the protected area encompasses US waters of the Chukchi Sea and Beaufort Sea. Since commercial fishing has never existed in this region, which is frozen for much of the year, the ban signifies a rare move to preserve uncharted territory before industry moves in, rather than after the fact.

“The cumulative effect of commercial fishing and shipping, as well as open-ended oil and gas development, could be devastating to this highly fragile system if not done correctly,” said Josh Reichert, managing director of the Pew Environment Group. “Rarely are we given a chance to put an area’s value as an ecosystem ahead of its commercial potential. Too often we get it wrong by depleting resources first and then backpedaling to return a place to its former grandeur.”

Global climate change has caused the Arctic to warm twice as fast as the rest of the planet, resulting in an unprecedented 40 percent loss of summer sea-ice cover. To commercial fishing interests, the suddenly ice-free waters present a new economic opportunity, especially with northward migrations of fish populations suited for warmer waters. But opening the gates to commercial fishing couldn’t come at a worse time, scientists argue, as the effects of climate change are already crippling fragile Arctic ecosystems.

For marine mammals such as polar bears, walrus and ice seals, the shrinking platforms of sea ice translate to a loss of critical habitat. Scientists and policy makers fear that commercial fishing could put food pressure on these already troubled species. The disappearance of these key species could, in turn, disrupt the entire food chain, leaving more species vulnerable. According to a letter to the NPFMC drafted by a team of marine scientists, “Recent sea ice losses threaten to fundamentally transform marine food webs in the Arctic.”

Nor are marine creatures the only ones who would be affected by expansion of commercial fishing into the Arctic. Subsistence fishing is central to the economy and culture of indigenous communities living along Alaska’s northern coast, and commercial fishing in the region could devastate traditional fishing areas.

Conservation organizations, including Audubon Alaska, Oceana, the Ocean Conservancy and the Pew Environment Group applauded the Council’s move to protect the Chukchi and Beaufort seas.

“Today’s decision signals a new day in the Arctic, where science comes first and where we think about the consequences of our actions before we take them,” said Janis Searles Jones, vice president of the Ocean Conservancy. “This proactive decision by the Council removes one source of additional stress, giving the Arctic, its peoples and animals a better chance to adapt to the changes.”

The National Marine Fisheries Service is expected to approve the Arctic commercial-fishing ban and issue final regulations to protect the Arctic later this year. However, because the ban was approved in part because of a lack of in-depth information about Arctic marine fish stocks and potential ecosystem effects, it could be lifted at some point in the future if new information is produced showing a viable way to conduct commercial fishing there.

Meanwhile, the 200,000 miles under U.S. control represents just a small portion of Arctic waters. So far, no other nations have taken such preventative steps to protect marine life from overexploitation in light of the debilitating effects of climate change.

Some species found in the Arctic, including the polar bear, bowhead whale and spectacled eider (a kind of sea bird) are listed as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act.

According to a report issued for the United Nations-led World Summit on Sustainable Development, 75 percent of the major marine fish stocks are either depleted, overexploited or being fished at their biological limit.

GreenNewsToday.org