NOAA’s Fisheries Service has appealed the public to given their opinion on a proposed framework to manage fishing in the Arctic waters of the United States in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas. Doug Mecum, acting administrator of the Alaska region of NOAA’s Fisheries Service, informed that since the ages there have been no commercial fisheries in our Arctic seas.
Mecum also said as the Arctic sea ice receding, more human activities may likely begin there, including increased interest in commercial fishing. He told that the new management plan sets up a framework for possible development of Arctic fisheries in the next decades. He also said that this means there should not be any commercial fishing expansion northward without knowing what level of fishing the Arctic can sustain.
Fishery management in the Arctic was started in 2006 by the North Pacific Fishery Management Council. The council talked extensively with communities on Alaska’s North Slope and other stakeholders to consider management options. Then the council decided to take a precautionary approach, voting to prohibit commercial fisheries until researchers gather sufficient information on Arctic’s commercial fishing option.
The North Pacific Fishery Management Council voted unanimously to adopt the Arctic Fishery Management Plan on February 5. NOAA has now open the plan for public review, and would become final if the Secretary of Commerce approves it after considering public comment.
