Arctic marine fishes and their fisheries in light of global change

• Published in: Global Change Biology
• Main Authors: Christiansen, Jørgen S, Mecklenburg, Catherine W, Karamushko, Oleg V
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2014
• Subjects: Opinion; Arctic; Sea ice
• Online Access: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4255237; http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24105993; https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.12395

In light of ocean warming and loss of Arctic sea ice, harvested marine fishes of boreal origin (and their fisheries) move poleward into yet unexploited parts of the Arctic seas. Industrial fisheries, already in place on many Arctic shelves, will radically affect the local fish species as they turn up as unprecedented bycatch. Arctic marine fishes are indispensable to ecosystem structuring and functioning, but they are still beyond credible assessment due to lack of basic biological data. The time for conservation actions is now, and precautionary management practices by the Arctic coastal states are needed to mitigate the impact of industrial fisheries in Arctic waters. We outline four possible conservation actions: scientific credibility, ‘green technology’, legitimate management and overarching coordination.