Arctic Portal Portlets Fishing Portlet
Historical means of Arctic Fishing
Fisheries in the Arctic have changed significantly throughout the history where subsistence based fisheries have been the core value. The catch from the sea has made the Arctic and the Sub-Arctic area inhabitable due to the abundance of nutrition from both fishes and sea mammals. Those species made life in the cold bearable. Technological advancements in fisheries have multiplied the possible catch in the Arctic. During the past and recent years the Arctic and the Sub-Arctic was and will be a valuable food production area and has supplied over the years valuable nutrition for the south. Historically the Arctic supported the urbanization of the south, providing the cities with oil from whale and shark products that was used for lamp posts, production of soap, and for lubrication of machinery of the industrial revolution. Arctic fishermen and whalers of the past are long known for their overfishing and whaling. As mentioned before, oil was produced from whale blubber and fish liver (mainly shark liver) and was a valuable product and in high demand in the beginning of the industrial revolution. Fortunately for those species a substitute product came in place when mineral oil was made a feasible option to harvest. Most of those species that sustained overfishing in the past have been preserved and signs lead to that they might recover. Others have not recovered fully and with climate change occurring as well, those species might never reach their previous numbers. During the recent years, an understanding of the importance of the biodiversity in the Arctic has increased. Regulations, quotas and bans of fishing and hunting have been implemented in order to preserve the delicate Arctic environment.
State of Arctic Fisheries
Climate change poses both threats and opportunities for Arctic fisheries. Those concerns include indicators of a major ecosystem northward shift, meaning that species will shift northwards in order to find ideal habitat conditions. Such shift has ambiguous effects, especially in economical terms, meaning that traditional species that are harvested might leave traditional waters, moving from one Exclusive Economic Zone to another and or into unfishable waters. Some will lose their ideal habitat, since a northward shift is not infinite and species that are weaker to adjustment will lose in the competition for their ideal habitat. That poses a threat to the traditional commercial fisheries for countries and areas that are economical dependable of traditional fisheries of such species.
As an example, a northward shift of coldwater specie like capelin might have enormous affect to the biodiversity in the Arctic. Capelin feeds mainly from zoo plankton and is an important food source for many valuable benthic and pelagic species, such as Atlantic cod and Pollock. A northward shift of the capelin, due to warmer waters, might therefore affect other stocks significantly, even though warmer waters do not affect those species directly. The basis for growth of the Atlantic cod is capelin and without such important food source the cod needs to find substitute specie, like shrimp (which is also coldwater specie that is moving further north), herring, spawns, fingerlings or other smaller species. Species in the higher levels of the Arctic food web need to adapt by finding other food sources or simply move along with the current food source. One direct effect of climate change to one specie might therefore affect indirectly too many other species that depend on that specie.
The Arctic Food Web: Source; Arctic Climate Impact Assessment Case Study: Phytoplankton causes overgrazing of kelpThe delicate web of the Arctic biosphere is complex and one small change can have big affect:
"one of the main effects of the warmer sea surface temperatures was a suppression of phytoplankton productivity, which led to reductions in shrimp, crab, and populations of smelt fish, such as capelin. (Other fish populations, particularly cod and pollock, increased at the same time.) The reduced numbers of smelt may have led to declines in the numbers of Steller's sea lions and harbor seals, which were one of the main food items for killer whales. The declining numbers of sea lions and seals apparently led to increased predation on sea otters by killer whales, resulting in a drastic reduction in the population of Alaskan sea otters of more than 70%. These low sea otter numbers allowed sea urchins (a major part of the sea otter diet) to proliferate. Sea urchins feed on kelp, so the kelp forests in the Gulf of Alaska and the Bering Sea were overgrazed, which affected all of the organisms associated with the kelp, including seabirds like puffins and kittiwakes. (Note: The Gulf of Alaska and Bering Sea fisheries are the largest in the United States, and some researchers also blame overfishing for the decline in marine mammal populations. Because of the climatic regime shift, it is difficult to conclusively determine the primary cause.)"
One small change can have effects to the largest of creatures and those again can have affect on the smallest of creatures. This causes failure in harvesting of one species, but can have positive affect to another. Valuable commercial fish like Cod and Pollock lose their juvenile habitats due to increase in Sea urchins, but again, harvesting of Sea urchin roe might become a substitute economical activity. Economical opportunities
Northward shift of species might also have great economical opportunities for those countries and areas that are dependable on fisheries. A northward shift of species might bring in more economically valuable species into the area from the south and therefore benefit the local fisheries. Some shift in fisheries technologies will be needed, but that poses not a great threat, for human adaption is very flexible. A southern ward specie such as the Atlantic Mackerel has been shifting northwards due to warming waters. This has caused economical opportunities for countries such as Iceland and the Faroe Islands. The Atlantic Mackerel is valuable specie and could come as economical substitute specie for capelin, however the role of the Mackerel in the food web of the Arctic and the Sub Arctic is not known. Due to its size, it is not dependable food source for other species such as the Cod or the Pollock. Also, signs lead to that the Mackerel eats spawns, fingerlings and other small fishes, such as small herring and capelin. Therefore the Mackerel might be in direct competition with currents species for nutrition. It is however unknown if climate change will support growth of other smaller species that might come in substitution for current nutrition for higher species like Cod or Pollock
Political overview
"Counting fish is somewhat just like counting trees, except you can't see the fish and it moves" This joke explains the nature of fish and its ability to move. Living resources like fish and other marine animals change their distribution patterns in relation to their habitual conditions, regardless of Exclusive Economic Zones and other jurisdictional waters. This fact can and has caused some political disputes, even though the Legal issues in connection with maritime boundaries and rights to fisheries both in countries' economic zones as well as international waters have mostly been settled under the United Nation Convention for the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). The distribution patterns of some species are changing faster than international agreements and conventions, causing disagreement of utilization of those species. The most recent case is the Mackerel dispute of Iceland and the European Union and other contracting parties (coastal states) of the North East Atlantic Fisheries Commission (NEAFC). During the recent years, Atlantic Mackerel has entered Icelandic waters due to warming waters and is in search for nutrition. The Mackerel extracts biomass from Icelandic waters and migrates again into coastal states waters, causing a huge biomass transfer. The composition of the biomass that the Mackerel transfers is thought to be spawns and fingerlings of economically valuable species and nutrition for those economically valuable species, such as small capelin and herring. In spite of that, Iceland has not been issued any quota from the overall maximum allowable catch issued by NEAFC, based on recommendations from the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES).
In the beginning the EU and the other coastal states did not want to recognize the fact that Mackerel was in Icelandic waters, however the catch over the recent years in Icelandic waters can't be ignored. The Mackerel started as a by catch with herring fisheries in Iceland but is now in great abundance that direct harvest of Mackerel has started. Therefore Icelandic officials issued a unilateral quota, since it was not allowed any from the overall maximum allowable catch issued by NEAFC, based on recommendations from ICES. Still, there is no agreement and currently Iceland has issued quota in Icelandic waters for 130.000 tons. That is addition to the total recommended catch from ICES, since the other states refuse to give share and accept Iceland as a coastal state with Mackerel. This economical and political approach by the states might therefore threaten the Mackerel stock since no agreement is available of total catch.
Disputes like those might become more common in the future since changes are occurring and economical valuable species will move to find their ideal habitat and they do not care about man made Exclusive Economic Zones. Economical and political approach of controlling maximum allowable catch of species is not in favor of the environment. An ecosystem approach has to be established in order to be able to utilize marine resources in a sustainable way. In order to do that a collective responsibility has to be established within stakeholders of this abundant resource that has supported Arctic peoples and others over the centuries. Fisheries Catch Abundance Map of the Arctic
Source: UNEP Large Marine Ecosystems Live Marine Traffic of the Worldwidth='80%'; //the width of the embedded map in pixels or percentage height=400; //the height of the embedded map in pixels or percentage border=1; //the width of border around the map. Zero means no border notation=false; //true or false to display or not the vessel icons and options at the left shownames=false; //true or false to dispaly ship names on the map latitude=66.4460; //the latitude of the center of the map in decimal degrees longitude=0.9467; //the longitude of the center of the map in decimal degrees zoom=2; //the zoom level of the map. Use values between 2 and 17 maptype=3; //use 0 for Normal map, 1 for Satellite, 2 for Hybrid, 3 for Terrain trackvessel=0; //the MMSI of the vessel to track, if within the range of the system fleet=''; //the registered email address of a user-defined fleet to display remember=false; //true or false to remember or not the last position of the mapFurther Information about fisheries
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Further Information
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