Mini-Symposium in Commemoration of the Inaugural Conference of the Parties (COP 1) to the Agreement to Prevent Unregulated High Seas Fisheries in the Central Arctic Ocean (CAOFA), Korea Polar Institute, Incheon, S. Korea, November 22, 2022

This is an important moment for Arctic cooperation, and it is valuable to have this sort of discussion in advance of the first Conference of the Parties (COP) under the Central Arctic Ocean Fisheries Agreement (CAOFA, formally the Agreement to Prevent Unregulated High Seas Fisheries in the Arctic Ocean). [...] Thus, the parties agreed to a moratorium on commercial fishing – committing for the duration of the Agreement not to allow their vessels to conduct commercial fishing operations in the large high seas portion of the Central Arctic Ocean. [...] As provided in Article 4 of the Agreement, the parties will establish a Joint Program of Scientific Research and Monitoring for the Central Arctic Ocean: “with the aim of improving their understanding of the ecosystems of the Agreement Area and, in particular, of determining whether fish stocks might exist in the Agreement Area now or in the future that could be harvested on a sustainable basis an. [...] (Another agreement that has a provision on Indigenous knowledge is the Agreement on Enhancing Arctic Scientific Cooperation of 2017 negotiated under the auspices of the Arctic Council.) The Agreement provides for participation of representatives of Arctic communities including Indigenous peoples in committees set up to undertake scientific work and other activities. [...] This recognizes the importance of fishing to coastal and Indigenous communities in the Arctic, their interests in preventing unregulated fishing in the high seas portion of the CAO, and the contributions they can make to developing relevant policies related to management of these resources.