Oslo, 16 July, 2015 -- A new international agreement to prevent unregulated fishing in the Arctic Ocean was today signed in Oslo. Greenpeace welcomed the move as a small step towards Arctic protection but lamented the failure to make the deal permanent.
Reacting to the agreement, Greenpeace Arctic campaigner Sophie Allain said:
“With this agreement, the Arctic states have recognised that the Arctic ocean is an extraordinary environment which requires far better scientific understanding. But sadly they have missed the chance to deliver the permanent protection this area desperately needs.
It’s clear that most of these countries are motivated by resource extraction, not protection, and see the melting of the ice sheet as an opportunity to fish further north.
Millions of people around the world agree that there should never be industrial fishing in the Arctic high seas – this region should be declared a marine sanctuary, where all extractive practices, including oil production, are banned.”
Over seven million people have joined the Greenpeace “Save the Arctic” campaign since 2012, which calls for a protected sanctuary in international waters around the North pole - off limits to both oil drilling and industrial fishing.
ENDS
US State Department release: http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2015/07/244969.htm
Greenpeace ‘Arctic sanctuary’ briefing:
