symposium materials

arctic fisheries in focus

“The Arctic region is warming, faster on average than the rest of the planet,” noted Ambassador David Balton, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Oceans and Fisheries, U.S. Department of State, in a March 2009 interview with FAO Radio of the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization.

For more information

Managing Resources for a Changing Arctic

Download the Symposium Proceedings (PDF)

The written report contains:

  • Foreword and overview
  • Agenda
  • List of participants 
  • List of the presentations available online
  • Overviews written by:
    • Dr. Jeffrey Short (science)
    • Prof. Erik Molenaar (policy)
    • Ukallaysaaq Tom Okleasik (participant)
  • List of indigenous recommendations
  • Outcomes and recommendations

IAFS 2009: Discussions on fisheries conservation and management

More than 180 delegates from eight nations met in Anchorage Oct. 19-21, 2009 to discuss conservation of fish stocks and the potential for future fisheries management in the Arctic Ocean.

“For the first time in history, fisheries managers, diplomats and scientists joined to discuss fisheries and ecosystems in the circumpolar Arctic,” said Mead Treadwell, senior fellow at the Institute of the North and chair of the U.S. Arctic Research Commission. “The conversation that begins here should never end. We need to arrive at a common scientific understanding of the interdependent resources in this region.”

With scientists, policy makers and stakeholders in attendance, the International Arctic Fisheries Symposium provided a forum to discuss the impact of climate change on fish stocks and the new accessibility to the central Arctic with ice retreat.

The conferees discussed possible common management regimes with special consideration for migratory, transboundary and straddling species; and heard concerns about subsistence issues.

Keynote speakers

  • Alaska Governor Sean Parnell
  • Senators Lisa Murkowski
  • Senator Mark Begich
  • U.S. Ambassador David Balton

International fisheries experts who spoke at the event

  • William Cheung, University of East Anglia, United Kingdom
  • Tomas Heidar, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Iceland
  • Lene Kielsen Holm, ICC Greenland
  • Kjartan Hoydal, Northeast Atlantic Fisheries Commission
  • Terje Løbach, Directorate of Fisheries, Norway
  • Harald Loeng, Institute of Marine Research, Norway
  • Erik Molenaar, University of Utrecht, the Netherlands
  • Andrey Pedchenko, State Research Institute on Lake And River Fisheries (GOSNIORKH), Russian Federation
  • Oleg Rykov, Russian Federation
  • Reidar Toresen, Institute of Marine Research, Norway