Some Icelandic Perspectives on the Agreement to Prevent Unregulated High Seas Fisheries in the Central Arctic Ocean
This paper reflects on several aspects of the Agreement to Prevent Unregulated High Seas Fisheries in the Central Arctic Ocean from the standpoint of Iceland, prior to, during and at the conclusion of the negotiations of the Agreement in late 2017. Particular reference is made to UNCLOS and coastal...
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crbrillap:10.1163/22116427_012010017 2024-09-30T14:29:13+00:00 Some Icelandic Perspectives on the Agreement to Prevent Unregulated High Seas Fisheries in the Central Arctic Ocean Sigurjónsson, Jóhann 2020 http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/22116427_012010017 https://brill.com/view/journals/yplo/12/1/article-p268_17.xml https://brill.com/downloadpdf/journals/yplo/12/1/article-p268_17.xml unknown Brill The Yearbook of Polar Law Online volume 12, issue 1, page 268-284 ISSN 2211-6427 journal-article 2020 crbrillap https://doi.org/10.1163/22116427_012010017 2024-09-02T04:06:45Z This paper reflects on several aspects of the Agreement to Prevent Unregulated High Seas Fisheries in the Central Arctic Ocean from the standpoint of Iceland, prior to, during and at the conclusion of the negotiations of the Agreement in late 2017. Particular reference is made to UNCLOS and coastal State interests, status of knowledge on the fish stocks and the importance of scientific cooperation which the Agreement facilitates. During the years 2008–2015, the so-called Arctic Five consulted on cooperation in Arctic matters including future management of fisheries in the central Arctic Ocean. These rather exclusive cooperative efforts were criticised by Iceland and other States that felt these matters were to be dealt with in a broader international context. It seems evident that Iceland’s desire to become a full participant in the process during the subsequent years was both based on legal arguments as well as fair and natural geopolitical reasons. Iceland became a participant in the negotiations in December 2015. The final version of the Agreement is a fully fledged platform for coordinating scientific research and it even allows for interim management measures until future regional management framework is in place. In essence, the Agreement can be taken as a regional fisheries management arrangement (RFMA), since most elements of relevance are incorporated in accordance with the 1995 UN Fish Stocks Agreement. The opening of the central Arctic Ocean for fishing is not likely to take place in the nearest future, although the development of sea ice retreat is currently faster than earlier anticipated. While the Agreement is today regarded as being historic due to its precautionary approach, future may prove that it was a timely arrangement in a fast-moving world with dramatic changes taking place in the Arctic Ocean. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Arctic Ocean Iceland Sea ice Yearbook of Polar Law Brill Arctic Arctic Ocean The Yearbook of Polar Law Online 12 1 268 284 |
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This paper reflects on several aspects of the Agreement to Prevent Unregulated High Seas Fisheries in the Central Arctic Ocean from the standpoint of Iceland, prior to, during and at the conclusion of the negotiations of the Agreement in late 2017. Particular reference is made to UNCLOS and coastal State interests, status of knowledge on the fish stocks and the importance of scientific cooperation which the Agreement facilitates. During the years 2008–2015, the so-called Arctic Five consulted on cooperation in Arctic matters including future management of fisheries in the central Arctic Ocean. These rather exclusive cooperative efforts were criticised by Iceland and other States that felt these matters were to be dealt with in a broader international context. It seems evident that Iceland’s desire to become a full participant in the process during the subsequent years was both based on legal arguments as well as fair and natural geopolitical reasons. Iceland became a participant in the negotiations in December 2015. The final version of the Agreement is a fully fledged platform for coordinating scientific research and it even allows for interim management measures until future regional management framework is in place. In essence, the Agreement can be taken as a regional fisheries management arrangement (RFMA), since most elements of relevance are incorporated in accordance with the 1995 UN Fish Stocks Agreement. The opening of the central Arctic Ocean for fishing is not likely to take place in the nearest future, although the development of sea ice retreat is currently faster than earlier anticipated. While the Agreement is today regarded as being historic due to its precautionary approach, future may prove that it was a timely arrangement in a fast-moving world with dramatic changes taking place in the Arctic Ocean. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Sigurjónsson, Jóhann |
spellingShingle |
Sigurjónsson, Jóhann Some Icelandic Perspectives on the Agreement to Prevent Unregulated High Seas Fisheries in the Central Arctic Ocean |
author_facet |
Sigurjónsson, Jóhann |
author_sort |
Sigurjónsson, Jóhann |
title |
Some Icelandic Perspectives on the Agreement to Prevent Unregulated High Seas Fisheries in the Central Arctic Ocean |
title_short |
Some Icelandic Perspectives on the Agreement to Prevent Unregulated High Seas Fisheries in the Central Arctic Ocean |
title_full |
Some Icelandic Perspectives on the Agreement to Prevent Unregulated High Seas Fisheries in the Central Arctic Ocean |
title_fullStr |
Some Icelandic Perspectives on the Agreement to Prevent Unregulated High Seas Fisheries in the Central Arctic Ocean |
title_full_unstemmed |
Some Icelandic Perspectives on the Agreement to Prevent Unregulated High Seas Fisheries in the Central Arctic Ocean |
title_sort |
some icelandic perspectives on the agreement to prevent unregulated high seas fisheries in the central arctic ocean |
publisher |
Brill |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/22116427_012010017 https://brill.com/view/journals/yplo/12/1/article-p268_17.xml https://brill.com/downloadpdf/journals/yplo/12/1/article-p268_17.xml |
geographic |
Arctic Arctic Ocean |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Arctic Ocean |
genre |
Arctic Arctic Ocean Iceland Sea ice Yearbook of Polar Law |
genre_facet |
Arctic Arctic Ocean Iceland Sea ice Yearbook of Polar Law |
op_source |
The Yearbook of Polar Law Online volume 12, issue 1, page 268-284 ISSN 2211-6427 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1163/22116427_012010017 |
container_title |
The Yearbook of Polar Law Online |
container_volume |
12 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
268 |
op_container_end_page |
284 |
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1811634600744583168 |