Arctic Bottom Trawling in Canadian Waters: Exploring the Possibilities for Legal Action against Unsustainable Fishing

• Published in: Review of European Community & International Environmental Law
• Main Author: Church, Rebekah
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 2011
• Subjects: Arctic; Sea ice
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9388.2011.00708.x; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.1467-9388.2011.00708.x; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1467-9388.2011.00708.x

As sea ice coverage decreases in the Arctic, previously inaccessible areas are becoming more attractive to commercial fishing. This article outlines the current state of bottom trawling in the Canadian Arctic. It examines how commercial fishing is regulated in the region and analyzes whether opportunities exist for judicially challenging the issuance of regulatory permits for Arctic trawling. The regulation of Arctic bottom trawling suggests that any decision to allow more extensive trawling operations will take place at the policy level, making court proceedings questioning the validity of such decisions challenging.