Tag Archives: Arctic Ocean
U.S. preparing to claim new ocean territory off Arctic Alaska and in central Bering Sea
United States ocean territory could expand by an area more than twice the size of California, with most of that in ocean areas off Alaska, under a claim being prepared by the federal government. The U.S. State Department this month announced results of a two-decade program to map the extended continental shelf areas beyond the nation’s 200-mile exclusive economic zone. Much of the focus was on the Arctic Ocean, where bathymetric and geologic surveys by federal agencies produced the first detailed maps of a complex seafloor with a series of canyons, ridges and deep-sea plateaus. The U.S. State Department this month announced results of a two-decade program to map the extended continental shelf areas beyond the nation’s 200-mile exclusive economic zone. more, >>click to read<< 16:08
Seal overpopulation having ‘significant and damaging impact’ on Canadian fish stocks: report
Canadian parliamentarians are warning that seal populations pose a danger to fish stocks and are upsetting marine ecosystems in the Pacific, Arctic and Atlantic oceans. A bipartisan report from the House of Commons standing committee on fisheries and oceans says urgent measures are needed from the federal government and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, including an increase in the humane seal harvest. “This report’s objective is to draw the attention of DFO, relevant departments and the Canadian government to important observational and empirical evidence that the overpopulation of pinnipeds on Canada’s three coasts is having a significant and damaging impact on the health and conservation of fish stocks and is creating an imbalance in our marine ecosystems,” the study concludes. more, >>click to read<< 18:00
Iceland protests five-nation no fishing deal in Arctic Ocean
REYKJAVIK: Iceland has protested at a five-nation accord to ban unregulated fishing around the North Pole and says it will not be bound by the deal. The foreign ministry in Reykjavik on Thursday hauled in the ambassadors of the five countries that sealed the July 16 agreement — the United States, Russia, Canada, Denmark on behalf of Greenland, and Norway. Iceland — which did not take part — “is… not bound by this declaration,” the government said in a statement. Read the rest here 09:14
Canada appears poised to sign international Arctic fish deal
“We can confirm that we are planning to attend a meeting in Norway with other 
coastal states to discuss further measures against unregulated high-seas fishing in the central Arctic Ocean,” Carole Saindon wrote in an email.”Details of the results of those discussions will be released at the conclusion of the meeting.”Canada, the United States, Russia, Denmark and Norway reached an interim agreement in February 2014 to work toward protecting Arctic waters beyond the 200-kilometre territorial limit of their respective shores, an area the size of the Mediterranean Sea. Read the rest here 08:11
“What the hell are they doing?”: How Canada’s anti-science leaders are wrecking the Arctic
Salon spoke with Struzik about the bad news from Canada, the recent good news from the U.S. and the many things we should be getting started on if we want to do the Arctic right. Our conversation has been lightly edited for length and clarity. Let’s start with the good news. You argue in your book that the Arctic as we know it is coming to an end, or maybe has already ended — but that’s not necessarily a bad thing in every case. It’s not necessarily a bad thing. The history of,,, Read the rest here 14:40
North Pole not ours, despite Harper’s bluster
Denmark has recently taken steps to claim jurisdiction over resources of the seabed in the vicinity of the North Pole. It’s a move that has rekindled concerns about international contention over coastal state sovereign rights in the middle of the Arctic Ocean. It also shines a renewed light on our prime minister’s ambition to secure the North Pole as a Canadian prize, which he is proposing to grab in a blatant contravention of customary international law. Read the rest here 11:33
Arctic Ocean “particularly vulnerable” to acidification: new report. “When marine ecosystems are affected, this will also have implications for humans”
Nunatsiaq News- 
Climate change is affecting the Arctic Ocean in ways that may deal a severe blow to marine life and people. The world’s oceans are becoming more acid, says a new report from the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme. And this ocean acidification in the Arctic might affect commercial fisheries in the Arctic and the marine resources that are important for indigenous peoples in the Arctic, the report says. continued
