US Ratifies Central Arctic Ocean Fisheries Agreement - State Department

The United States has become the fourth party to ratify the central Arctic Ocean fisheries agreement, the State Department said in a press release on Tuesday

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 27th August, 2019) The United States has become the fourth party to ratify the central Arctic Ocean fisheries agreement, the State Department said in a press release on Tuesday.

"The United States is the fourth party to ratify the Agreement to Prevent Unregulated High Seas Fisheries in the Central Arctic Ocean after Canada, the Russian Federation, and the European Union," the release said. "The Agreement will enter into force once all ten Signatories ratify."

While there are currently no commercial fisheries in the Arctic high seas, increasing temperatures are expected to lengthen the portion of ice-free areas, which could lead to commercial fishing in the foreseeable future, the release said.

The State Department called the document the first multilateral agreement of its kind to protect an area from commercial fishing before fishing has even begun. The agreement prevents unregulated fishing and facilitates joint scientific research in the Arctic Ocean.

The 10 participants, which signed the agreement on October 3, 2018, include: Canada, the People's Republic of China, the Kingdom of Denmark (in respect of the Faroe Islands and Greenland), the European Union, Iceland, Japan, the Kingdom of Norway, the Republic of Korea, the Russian Federation, and the United States of America.