The deal prohibits trawling in the international zone of the Arctic Ocean that is newly free of ice for 16 years, or until a plan for sustainable fishing is in place. “It’s an example where the United States and Russia have very similar interests as coastal states fronting the Arctic Ocean,” said Scott Highleyman, vice president of conservation policy and programs at Ocean Conservancy, said in a telephone interview. That the center of the Arctic Ocean was unregulated was hardly a concern when it was an icebound backwater. Today, about 40 percent of the central Arctic Ocean melts in the summertime. The part of the doughnut hole that is thawing most quickly lies above Alaska and the Russian region of Chukotka, meaning Russia and the United States have the most at stake.

Source: New York Times December 01, 2017 00:45 UTC