Beaufort Sea. (Image Credit: M.Minderhoud/FIS)

Large scale commercial fisheries restricted in Beaufort Sea

CANADA
Monday, October 20, 2014, 22:40 (GMT + 9)

The federal government announced a new Arctic fisheries management that will protect a large area of Canada's Beaufort Sea from large-scale commercial fishing and ensure a sustainable resource for local communities. The move was immediately applauded by The Pew Charitable Trusts.

The Beaufort Sea Integrated Fisheries Management Framework is an agreement between the Inuvialuit and Canada, as represented by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO), the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation, the Inuvialuit Game Council and the Fisheries Joint Management Committee, to cooperatively manage marine mammal and fish resources in this area.

The Framework is an outcome of the Integrated Ocean Management Plan for the Beaufort Sea announced in 2010, which was designed to be an effective guide to planning for development in the region.

According to the DFO, the Framework is a valuable tool to address the existing and potential threats to the well-being and sustainability of key marine resources in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region and will help protect traditional Inuvialuit harvests of fish and marine mammals by ensuring the protection and maintenance of the critical Arctic food webs on which they depend.

The accord establishes that priority for any new fisheries will be given to small scale Inuvialuit-based operations. Any consideration of larger scale commercial fisheries will depend upon scientific knowledge and understanding of the biological productivity of the Beaufort Sea and of the food chain links to species of importance to the Inuvialuit: Dolly Varden char; Arctic char; anadromous whitefish species; seals; and, whales. Potential commercial fisheries will only be considered in the light of scientifically supportable estimates of surplus and sustainable stocks.

This agreement will also ensure that current DFO policies and guidelines will be adhered to, while also ensuring that Inuvialuit rights and responsibilities for the fisheries resources of the Beaufort Sea are fully recognized in any consideration of potential new fisheries.

"This is a major step toward protecting Arctic fisheries, and we commend Canada's leadership on this issue," said Louie Porta, policy director for Pew's Oceans North Canada project, which commissioned research for the plan. "The Inuvialuit depend on a healthy ecosystem to support abundant populations of marine mammals and fish that for them represent food security and cultural continuity."

Canada's Beaufort Sea, one of the last places on Earth that has not been overfished, supports one of the largest populations of beluga whales in the world. The Arctic is warming twice as fast as the rest of the planet, and melting sea ice and a northward movement of fish populations have increased the likelihood that commercial fishing will expand to this region. Such activities could harm vital habitats for marine mammals, fish, and birds and deplete natural resources that local communities rely on for their survival.

Under the plan, any decisions about large offshore commercial fishing operations will require additional scientific investigation. Since 2002, there have been eight applications for exploratory fishing licenses in the Canadian Beaufort.

Pew reminded that the United States signed a precautionary fisheries management plan in 2009 that prohibited commercial fishing in more than 500,000 square kilometres of its waters north of Alaska until scientific research and management measures can ensure a sustainable catch.

A similar effort is under way by the five Arctic countries—Canada, the United States, Russia, Greenland, and Norway—that border the international waters of the Central Arctic Ocean. In February, those countries agreed to work on an international fisheries accord that would protect almost 3 million square kilometres from commercial fishing. The agreement would prevent industrial fishing while experts assess the impact of melting ice on the ecosystem and determine what oversight is needed.

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