Proceedings Of The Marine

SUM 2013

Proceedings magazine is a communication tool for the Coast Guard's Marine Safety & Security Council. Each quarterly magazine focuses on a specific theme of interest to the marine industry.

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Commercial fshing activity is expected to expand in the Arctic as waters warm and ice recedes. andestablishtheArcticResearchandDesignCenter for Offshore Development.13 The pace and location of Arctic oil and gas explorationanddevelopmentdependsuponprofitability, jurisdictionalissues,andregulatoryarrangements. Forexample,intheBarentsSea,offshoreoilandgas developmentisontheriseasaresultofthe2010politicalboundaryagreementbetweenNorwayandRussia thatprovidesforjointdevelopmentofhydrocarbon resourcesthatstraddletheboundary.14 Fisheries Arctic fisheries constitute about 10 percent of the world'scatch,generatingbillionsofdollarsperyear inrevenues,representing90percentoftheexport earningsofGreenland,33percentofthoseofIceland, approximatelysixpercentforNorway,andlessthan onepercentoftheexportearningsoftheUnitedStates andRussia.15 Norway's Arctic region accounts for 37 percent of thecountry'sfsheryproduction,with$1.8billionof Norwegiancodexportsin2011.16InAlaska,$1.3billionoffshandshellfshwereharvestedin2009.17 At thesametime,individualArcticcommunitiesare almostwhollyreliantonfsheries,fshprocessing, andmarinemammalsfortheireconomicsurvival. The Arctic Ocean includes a range of ecosystems, fshstocks,andfsheries,withsignifcantdifferences betweentheAtlanticandPacifcsidesoftheregion. Fishingactivityhasrecentlyexpandedsignifcantly in some areas. For example, the Greenlandic shrimp catchhasincreasedsignifcantlyinthelastdecade.18 In theCanadianArctic,fshingshipvoyagesexpanded from30in2005to221in2010,makingfsheriesbyfar thelargestcomponentofvesselactivityintheCanadian Arctic.19 12 Proceedings Summer 2013 Arcticfsheriesaregovernedbynational,bilateral,andmultilateralmanagementarrangements thatwillaffectfuturelevelsandpatternsoffshingactivity.WherefsheriestakeplaceinexclusiveeconomiczonessuchastheNorthAtlantic, nationalregulationscovermoststatejurisdictional capacities. As diminishing ice coverage creates newfishingopportunitieswheremanagement isnotinplace,Arcticstateswillhavetodevelop regulationstodischargeinternationalobligations. FortheU.S.ArcticwatersnorthofAlaska'sBering Strait,theUnitedStatesgovernmenthasdecided toclosetheareatocommercialfshinguntilinformationisavailabletoassessecosystemhealthand developsustainablefsheriesmanagement.20 Tourism WithincreasedaccesstotheArcticcomestheability forcruiseshipstotransportlargenumbersofpassengerstovariouslocationsthroughoutthearea.Cruise tourismpossibilitiesnowincludetripstotheNorth Poleitself—oncethemostformidablechallengeof Arctic exploration. Overall, Arctic marine tourism has grown by 500 percentfrom1994to2009.21 The trend is accelerating,withthenumberofArcticcruiseshipvisitors doublingfrom2004to2007,from1.2milliontomore than2.4million.22 Themajorityofcruisetourismactivityisalongthe coastofNorway,alongthecoastofGreenland,and throughtheCanadianportionsoftheNorthwestPassage.In2007,Norwayreceived1.13millioncruiseship passengers;and,in2008,thenumberofcruiseship passengersvisitingGreenlandincreasedbyabout 30 percent. 23 The number of cruise ships visiting northernCanadianislandsin2006,suchasremote Cruise ship tourism is growing rapidly in the Arctic. www.uscg.mil/proceedings

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