Incorporation of Indigenous and Local Knowledge in Central Arctic Ocean Fisheries Management

• Published in: Arctic Review on Law and Politics
• Main Author: Schatz, Valentin
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: University of Tromsø - The Arctic University of Norway, Faculty of Law 2019
• Subjects: Arctic; Arctic Ocean; Ilulissat
• Online Access: https://arcticreview.no/index.php/arctic/article/view/1630; https://doi.org/10.23865/arctic.v10.1630

On October 3, 2018, the so-called “Arctic Five plus Five” concluded the Agreement to Prevent Unregulated High Seas Fisheries in the Central Arctic Ocean (CAOFA, CAOF Agreement or Ilulissat Agreement). The CAOFA establishes a precautionary framework for the regulation of fisheries in the high seas of the central Arctic Ocean (CAO), including a temporary moratorium on unregulated commercial fishing. The purpose of this debate article is not to discuss the CAOFA’s provisions on fisheries as such, but to take a look at a number of interesting and novel provisions concerning the interests of indigenous and local communities, particularly with respect to incorporation of indigenous and local knowledge into science-based fisheries management in the CAO.