Best Practices in Ecosystem-Based Oceans Management in the Arctic

129 Alf Håkon Hoel (ed.) Best Practices in Ecosystem-based Oceans Management in the Arctic NORSK POLARINSTITUTT/NORWEGIAN POLAR INSTITUTE, POLARMILJØSENTERET/POLAR ENVIRONMENTAL CENTRE, NO-9296 TROMSØ 1 2 Rapportserie nr. 129 Report Series no. 129 Alf Håkon Hoel (ed.) Best Practices in Ecosystem-based Oceans Management in the Arctic Norsk Polarinstitutt er Norges sentrale statsinstitusjon for kartlegging, miljøovervåking og forvaltningsrettet forskning i Arktis og Antarktis. Instituttet er faglig og strategisk rådgiver i miljøvernsaker i disse områdene og har forvaltningsmyndighet i norsk del av Antarktis. The Norwegian Polar Institute is Norway’s main institution for research, monitoring and topographic mapping in the Norwegian polar regions. The institute also advises Norwegian authorities on matters concerning polar environmental management. 3 Norsk Polarinstitutt, Polarmiljøsenteret, 9296 Tromsø. Norwegian Polar Institute, Polar Environmental Centre, NO-9296 Tromsø www.npolar.no [email protected] Cover: Figure by Anders Skoglund, Norwegian Polar Institute Design: Jan Roald, Norwegian Polar Institute Printed: Norbye & Konsepta, April 2009 ISBN: 978-82-7666-257-3 ISSN: 0803-0421 4 Foreword Arctic communities and settlements are largely based on the use of natural resources. Traditionally these activities included hunting, fishing and reindeer herding. Commercial fisheries are now of major significance in several Arctic regions. The importance of the non-renewable resources is growing. Both onshore and offshore petroleum developments are expanding to new areas of the Arctic. Also external pressures from climate change and long-range pollution are of growing significance in theArctic. New economic activities may provide an important basis for welfare and economic growth. It is vital that all resource use is planned and carried out in a sustainable manner to facilitate the coexistence of activities in different sectors. Economic activities must be carried out in accordance with environmental and safety standards, to the benefit of Arctic communities. Minimizing negative impacts of commercial activities on the ecosystems and living resources of the Arctic is a particularly important task, and that has to be considered in light of climate change and pollution issues. On the basis of the mandate given at the Salekhard ministerial meeting in 2006, the Norwegian chairman- ship of the Arctic Council initiated a project on ecosystem-based oceans management. This project was undertaken as an approved project of the Arctic Council Sustainable Development Working Group and the Protection of the Arctic Marine Environment Working Group. The project report was prepared by a project team and does not necessarily reflect the policy or positions of anyArctic State, Permanent Participant or Observer of the Arctic Council. 5 Contents Introduction 7 Indigenous Perspectives 11 Management of the Russian Arctic Seas 19 Finland 37 Norway and Integrated Oceans Management – the Case of the Barents Sea 43 Iceland 53 Greenland 61 Ecosystem-based Ocean Management in the Canadian Arctic 81 USA: An Integrated Approach to Ecosystem-based Management 101 Conclusions 109 6 REPORT SERIES NO 129 Introduction Alf Håkon Hoel 7 Introduction ecosystem-based oceans management, including existing transboundary agreements relevant to the management of Arctic marine ecosys- Background and rationale tems. The aggregate effects of multiple uses of the oceans – fishing, transportation, petroleum development, waste disposal, etc. – call for The question of obstacles and success elements is considered by ask- an ecosystem-based approach to oceans management. The need for ing the Arctic countries to describe their experiences in applying an oceans management based on an ecosystem approach is now widely ecosystem-based approach to oceans management. Important elements recognized by the international community, as reflected in calls for the here include the process aspects of interagency cooperation and the or- application of the ecosystem approach by 2010 in the 2002 Johannes- ganization of that, the organization and use of science, and stakeholder burg Plan of Implementation from WSSD1 as well as in recommenda- involvement, as well as the actual content of ecosystem-based oceans tions from the UN General Assembly.2 In the Arctic context, the 2004 management, such as institutions for ecosystem-based oceans manage- Arctic Marine Strategic Plan3 points to challenges and opportunities in ment, legislation and policy tools, geographical approaches, including this regard, and the working map of the 17 Arctic LMEs represents a LMEs, and biodiversity considerations. basis for further work. The main emphasis of the project is on the analytical aspects of these The 2004 Arctic Marine Strategic Plan defines ecosystem-based man- issues, so that actions can be based on lessons learnt and possible best agement as an approach that “requires that development activities be practices identified. coordinated in a way that minimizes their impact on the environment and integrates thinking across environmental, socio-economic, politi- The project build on previous assessments and work under the Arctic cal and sectoral realms.”4 Council, and will neither venture into new studies of the Arctic marine environment, nor address issues relating to jurisdictions and rights to The employment of an ecosystem-based approach to oceans man- resources. agement is critical to the protection and sustainable use of marine ecosystems. However, the form and content of the ecosystem-based The case studies approach to oceans management is context dependent and vary from The project is built around seven case studies of how countries develop case to case. An important distinction is between the ecosystem-based and implement ecosystem-based oceans management in the Arctic. approach to the management as applied to oceans in general on the one The seven cases – Canada, Denmark/Greenland, Finland, Iceland, hand, and its use within one sector, as e.g. fisheries, on the other. Norway, Russia and USA – demonstrate that the Arctic countries in- deed are implementing ecosystem approaches to oceans management. The application of the ecosystem approach to oceans management of In addition, there is a chapter on indigenous issues. The final chapter Arctic waters raises a number of issues with commonalities across the lays out Observed Best Practices that can be subsumed from the case Arctic region: ice-covered waters, transboundary cooperation, fisheries studies. management, exploitation of petroleum under severe climatic condi- tions, long-range transport of pollutants, indigenous communities, socio-economic growth and sustainability issues, and the impacts of International context climate change. The growth of rule-based, as opposed to power-based, interactions among countries in oceans affairs, is a definite characteristic of the Objectives international oceans regime that developed over the last decades. Com- mencing with the 1958 UN Conference on the Law of the Sea (UN- Oceans management is carried out by governments, independently CLOS I), a broad framework regulating almost all uses of the oceans and in cooperation with other states. States and their practices in has emerged. UNCLOS III (1973–1982) introduced the concept of ecosystem-based oceans management ais therefore the basis for an the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), which set the stage for a major analysis of the factors that contribute to sustainable use and conserva- reconfiguration of rights to natural resources and the development of a tion of Arctic marine ecosystems. coastal state based system of resource management regimes, laid down in the 1982 Law of the Sea Convention. The Convention entered into The objective of the project is to present the concepts and practices the force in 1994, and is broadly considered to reflect customary interna- Arctic countries have developed for the application of an ecosystem- tional law in this realm. based approach to oceans management. By way of reviewing how countries actually put to use such concepts and practices, lessons can In relation to living marine resources, the Law of the Sea Convention be drawn on how to effectively do ecosystem-based oceans manage- has beed elaborated upon and made more specific by the 1995 UN Fish ment. The project addresses both the use and conservation aspects of Stocks Agreement, which obliges countries to apply a precautionary sustainable development. approach and a ecosystems approach to fisheries management. Also in relation to fisheries, the 1995 FAO Code of Conduct of Responsible Two sets of questions here address the substance and process of Fisheries and the international action plans adopted to further the im- putting ecosystem-based oceans management to work, respectively: plementation of the code at national and regional levels are important.5 which practices and approaches have proved useful in moving towards effective protection and sustainable use of the Arctic marine environ- The United Nations General Assembly has repeatedly called for the ment? introduction of ecosystem-based oceans management in its annual resolutions on oceans and the Law of the Sea. Also, in 2006, the What are the main obstacles, and what are the important success ele- United Nations Informal Consultations on Oceans and the Law of the ments in moving towards ecosystem-based oceans management? Sea (UNICPOLOS) developed a set of “Agreed Consensual Elements” on ecosystem approaches and the oceans, that

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