1.
Second Assembly of the Arctic Circle,
31 October – 2 November 2014 Reykjavik, Iceland
THE ARCTIC OCEAN – FISHERIES
Presentation by Árni M. Mathiesen
Assistant Director-General
Fisheries and Aquaculture Department
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

2.
Hunger
• 805 million people estimated to be suffering from chronic hunger in 2012–14,
down 100 million in the last decade.
• The vast majority, 791 million, live in developing countries.
1014.5
929.9 946.2
World
Developing regions
840.5
805.3
994.1
908.7 930.8
824.9
790.7
1,100
1,050
1,000
950
900
850
800
750
700
1990-92 2000-02 2005-07 2009-11 2012-14
Number of undernourished (millions) and prevalence (%) of undernourishment
1990–92 2000–02 2005–07 2008–10 2012–14*
No. % No. % No. % No. % No. %
WORLD 1 014.5 18.7 929.9 14.9 946.2 14.3 840.5 12.1 805.3 11.3

3.
Millions of children suffering nutrition deficiency
Vitamin A deficiency
Causing blindness
250 million preschool children affected
Iron deficiency
Anaemia contributes to 20% of all maternal deaths.
40% of preschool children anaemic in developing
countries.
Iodine deficiency
Impairing cognitive development in children
54 countries still iodine-deficient
Source: WHO
805 million hungry people
Source: WHO
Trend
Billions of obesity or overweight people
 Worldwide obesity has nearly doubled since 1980.
Adults (aged 20 or older)
 More than 1.4 billion (35% of total) overweight in
2008
 Over 200 million men and nearly 300 million
women (11 % of total) obese in 2008.
Children (under the age of 5)
 More than 40 million children overweight or obese
in 2012.
Source: WHO
Food security and nutrition status
Hunger hand-in-hand with poverty

4.
Contribution of fish to human nutrition
Fish provides high quality animal protein Fish especially important to countries with low animal protein intake
19.4
22.9
6.5
10.3
11.6
7.6
24.1
16.7
World
LIFDCs
Latin America &…
0 10 20 30
Northern America
Oceania
Europe
Africa
Asia
%
Fish as a percentage of total animal protein intake
Protein
Vitamin A
DHA
EPA
Vitamin B12
Zinc
Iron
Vitamin D
Calcium
Selenium
Iodine
Fish, a source of nutrients Daily need (RDI) for children:
DHA+EPA (Ω-3);
seafood main source
150 (250) μg
Vitamin A;
250 million preschool children
deficient
150 (250) mg
Iron;
1.6 billion people deficient
8.9 mg
(at 10% bioavailability)
Iodine;
seafood natural source, 2 billion
people deficient
120 μg
Zinc;
800 000 child deaths per year
5.6 mg
(at moderate bioavailability)

5.
Socioeconomic contribution of aquaculture and fisheries

6.
FAO’s strategic goals
ERADICATE HUNGER, FOOD
insecurity and MALNUTRITION
ELIMINATE RURAL POVERTY
THROUGH SOCIO-ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT
SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT
AND UTILIZATION OF NATURAL
SOURCES

7.
The Blue Growth Initiative
To promote the sustainable use and conservation of the
Aim aquatic renewable resources
Four Main Components
• Fisheries
• Aquaculture
• Livelihoods
and food
systems
• Eco-system
Services
Global
•Implementation
of International
Instruments and
EAF
•Combat IUU
fishing
•Reduction of
Over-capacity,
restoring fish
stocks, habitats
and aquatic
biodiversity
•GAAP
•International
advocacy and
coop
Regional
•Regional
Initiative on Blue
Growth (FAO
RAP)
• Regional
Fisheries Bodies
• Other FAO
Regional
Initiatives
Country level
•Development and
implementation of
national policies and
strategies for blue
growth
•BGI-RAP, regional
•BGI-RNE, regional,
sub-regional
•BGI- RAF, national,
sub-regional

8.
Climate Change Implications for Fisheries and Aquaculture
Key findings from IPCC AR 5
Holmyard, 2014

9.
Potential Impacts of Climate Change
on Fisheries in the Arctic
Major fisheries (cod, haddock, saithe, redfish, Greenland halibut, and capelin stocks
in Barents Sea and Norwegian Sea) may change its abundance and distribution (e.g.
Arctic cod larval survival may increase ).
Some sub-Arctic species are expanding northwards into the Arctic (known northward-movement:
snow crab in the Bering and Chukchi seas, several crab and mollusk
species in the Chukchi Sea, blue mussel in Svalbard, sand eel in the North Sea, etc).
Some Arctic-adapted species are losing habitat along the southern edges of their
ranges (Pacific walrus in Bering Sea).
Warming ocean temperatures, migrating fish stocks and shifting sea ice conditions
from a changing climate may potentially favor the development of new commercial
fisheries.

10.
Fisheries governance and management
The global policy and legislative framework for the conservation and management of living
marine resources is laid down principally in UNCLOS, the UN Fish Stocks Agreement, and the
FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries and related instruments. UNGA, FAO-COFI.
States have sovereign responsibility with in EEZs.
RFMOs play a key role in fostering cooperation among States to ensure the long-term
sustainability of fisheries, through the adoption and implementation of regionally-agreed
management and conservation measures, based on the best scientific evidence.
Two long-established RFMOs in the northern hemisphere are NEAFC and NAFO, which enjoy
a strong cooperative relationship, including in the joint management of the pelagic redfish –
Sebastes mentella.
NEAFC also has a special agreement with ICES, an intergovernmental scientific organization,
which provides scientific information and advice, on the basis of which NEAFC adopts fisheries
management measures.

11.
RFMO Convention Areas

12.
NEAFC’s Convention Area extends into the Arctic Ocean and includes
significantly sizeable Regulatory Areas (orange) within the Arctic Circle.

13.
When new areas in the Arctic become “harvestable”, fishing activities will fall under the general
regulatory regime established by NEAFC’s Scheme of Control and Enforcement (SCE), applicable
to Contracting Parties, non-Contracting Parties (NCP) and Cooperative NCP vessels. The SCE
includes MCS requirements and procedures for vessels targeting Regulated Resources and non-
Regulated resources (including Port State Control and IUU listing).
If harvesting in a new area will involve bottom fishing activities, it will be considered a “new
bottom fishing area” as defined by NEAFC’s Recommendation 19:2014. In practice, “new bottom
fishing areas” are “closed areas” with very strict conditions for access: initially for “exploratory
bottom fisheries” and later (if so decided) to become “existing bottom fishing areas”
As the distribution of certain fish stocks gradually moves further north due to climate change, the
fisheries governance and management in the Arctic Ocean is becoming increasingly important and
sensitive; a significant portion of international waters in the Arctic Ocean is not currently covered
by a specific fisheries regulatory framework.

14.
Considerations for sustainable
fisheries development in the Arctic
A holistic cross-sectoral approach:
-safeguarding the environment
-ensuring sustainable fisheries management/development to be adopted in face of uncertain
changes due to climate change and acceleration of economic development in the Arctic region.
-research.
Adaptive actions at the local, regional or global level to provide Arctic communities with a broad
suite of tools to help them respond to the change.
The need for an agreement(s) on responsible fisheries development in the Arctic, in particular,
preventing unregulated fishing in the unregulated part of the Central Arctic Ocean.