We need a North Pole Marine Reserve to secure a healthy future for Arctic waters (commentary)

In 2024, the cod fishing moratorium on Newfoundland’s Grand Banks was lifted, 32 years after a historically significant ecological collapse of the fish’s population was caused by overfishing.
The Central Arctic Ocean Fisheries Agreement signed in 2019 provides an example of how to address the threat from such overfishing by using the precautionary principle, international collaboration and science led evaluations of fish stocks.
The future health of Arctic marine ecosystems can be secured by establishing a North Pole Marine Reserve, a new op-ed argues.
This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

In the 1990s, a single moratorium announcement wiped out an entire industry, leaving 37,000 people unemployed overnight. The ecological collapse of the Canadian Grand Banks Cod Fisheries is the most famous historical example of a collapse in fish stocks due to overfishing. Not only were cod stocks severely depleted, it was the largest layoff of workers in one day, and the biggest ever industrial layoff in Canada’s history: fishing fleets, processing plants, associated support businesses were all impacted when the moratorium was declared. It devastated coastal communities in Newfoundland and Labrador and led to significant migration, changing some of those communities forever.

Five years ago this month, the Central Arctic Ocean Fisheries Agreement (CAOFA) was signed by Arctic Coastal States, in an example of unprecedented international collaboration based upon the precautionary principle, which put in place a moratorium on fishing in the CAO until 2037, thereby protecting Arctic Ocean species from commercial exploitation as the sea ice retreats. In effect, this moratorium establishes a temporary marine reserve for fish populations that are increasingly moving north as waters warm. This is Arctic exceptionalism in practice, a recognition that the CAO can be, as often heralded, a common heritage of humankind, a unique global inheritance that must be protected and preserved through an Arctic Treaty System, providing in practice a North Pole Marine Reserve.

Why think about this now? This year, the moratorium on cod fishing on the Grand Banks was lifted. Thirty-two years on – and in the teeth of opposition from inshore fishing communities and industry representatives – these communities once again stand on the cusp of an experiment that will either demonstrate its sustainability or risk additional environmental harm.

Cod caught off Labrador, 1910. Image via Wikimedia Commons.

Speaking in a news release in June 2024, Diane Lebouthillier, Minister of Fisheries, Oceans, and the Canadian Coast Guard stated: “We will cautiously but optimistically build back this fishery with the prime beneficiaries being coastal and Indigenous communities throughout Newfoundland and Labrador.”

The response of the inshore fishing community was scathing, with the Fish, Food and Allied Workers Union (FFAW) arguing “If the government doesn’t make a move on this decision, it will negatively affect FFAW members’ jobs at sea and on land, their coastal communities, and the northern cod species itself, as it cannot withstand the increased fishing pressure of offshore Canadian and international vessels.”

Learning from these communities is paramount. They are the canary in the coal mine for what could happen to future Arctic fisheries. Inshore fishing vessels and the species they pursue are already having to travel further as fish populations are driven northwards by warming waters. In conversations with the key actors, we at 90 North Foundation have heard broad support and acknowledgement of the need for regulation. As well as a desire to forestall any future Arctic gold rush, so that the tough lessons of the Grand Banks are not lost to the future.

A female narwhal in the Canadian Arctic. Image by Doug Allan/WWF.

What does this mean for Central Arctic Ocean conservation?

We have a huge body of evidence and the lived experience of what happens when things went wrong on the Grand Banks, and in the CAOFA there is the possibility that we might be able to avoid repeating our mistakes. The partial recovery of cod stocks on the Grand Banks, whilst positive, is still at a level where the return of international trawlers could see a devastating return to the ecological harms suffered over past decades. In CAOFA we have a 13 year window remaining to understand and be led by the science of this rapidly opening ocean basin, but this window can be rapidly closed by the advance of trans-polar shipping and commercial exploitation of the seabed. These areas have not been open to industrial exploitation before and there is no reason why they should be now.

Building upon CAOFA with a next generation agreement, a moratorium on trans-polar shipping and seabed mining would be a statement of intent, a recognition that even on a crowded planet some areas are genuinely off-limits to commercial interests and the devastating consequences we have seen in places such as the Grand Banks. The 90 North Foundation is committed to securing the future of Arctic marine ecosystems by advocating for the establishment of a North Pole Marine Reserve.

But we can’t do it alone. We need the support of individuals, organizations, and policymakers who believe that genuinely sustainable and proactive approaches are the path forward, let’s bend the arrow of history towards progress, and take advantage of an unprecedented opportunity to protect an entire ocean basin.

Dr. Graeme Chesters is Research Director at 90 North Foundation, find out more about their mission to establish a North Pole Marine reserve here.

Banner image: Narwhal. Image by Газпром нефть via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Related audio from Mongagbay’s podcast: Marine fisheries are regulated by intergovernmental organizations whose decisions often avoid scrutiny, listen here to learn what they do and how their decisions effect marine ecosystems:

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