The North Pacific Fishery Management Council (NPFMC) has decided to prevent the expansion of industrial fishing into all US waters north of the Bering Strait for the foreseeable future. Audubon Alaska, the state office of the National Audubon Society (BirdLife in the US), has welcomed this decision. It is said that the NPFMC has acted to limit pressure on ocean ecosystems, already under stress from global warming. With no large-scale commercial fishing in the US Arctic at present, this decision establishes one of the most far-reaching precautionary measures in fisheries management history.
It is said that Audubon was part of a consortium of groups, including Oceana, Ocean Conservancy, the Pew Environment Group, local Arctic communities and fishermen, which lobbied for this result. Stan Senner, executive director of Audubon Alaska, said that the groups were concerned about the impact of commercial fishing on seabirds and other Arctic wildlife due to incidental take, reduced prey availability, and habitat disturbance.
He told that much of the Arctic food web is linked to a handful of fish species and much of the Arctic food web is linked to a handful of fish species, such as the Arctic Cod. He opined that the group doesn’t want to add the effects of commercial fisheries while the entire ecosystem is changing due to global warming.
