FAO calls on sustainable exploitation of fragile polar ecosystems

 

From May 11 to May 12, The city of Arkhangelsk hosted the Conference on Bioresources and Fisheries in the Arctic. Oleg Kobiakov, Director of the FAO Liaison Office with the Russian Federation, welcomed the participants of the plenary session "Aquatic biological resources. Fisheries and Stock Conservation in the Arctic".

"On behalf of FAO, its leadership represented by Director General Qu Dongyu, the Deputy Director General, Head of the Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia, Vladimir Rakhmanin, and the staff of our Moscow office, I extend a warm welcome to the participants of this landmark conference.

The most important goal of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is SDG-2 "End hunger and achieve food security". Global fisheries are making a growing contribution to this goal by providing precious food to a global population that has already passed the 8 billion mark and by providing income to hundreds of millions of workers in the sea and related sectors of the food chain.

Because of the rapid reduction of land available for cultivation due to urbanisation, the development of industrial and transport infrastructure, and land degradation, people are increasingly turning to the sea as a source of food and employment.

Particular hope in this regard lies in the Arctic seas and coastal areas rich in aquatic resources. The on-going climate warming may contribute to increasing the productivity of Arctic waters, but entails risks of unstable and sometimes predatory exploitation of fragile polar ecosystems.

FAO, as a specialized agency of the United Nations, is the only intergovernmental organization with a global fisheries mandate. We provide a platform for interaction between our member countries in all regions, and promote the development of a regulatory framework and scientific research.

We appreciate the cooperation with Russia on the fisheries track and the attention that the management of Rosrybolovstvo, VNIRO and its branches pay to our relations. FAO is grateful for being invited to this important conference and intends to contribute substantively to the two round tables.

Let me once again wish all participants of the Conference fruitful discussions!", Oleg Kobiakov said in conclusion. 

"Conserving Arctic stock is our joint task. To do so, we do not only cooperate with other circumpolar countries, but also with those companies involved in mining. Only by balancing fishing and other activities carried out by companies in the region, we can clearly regulate the development of the Arctic to preserve its natural resources," Ilya Shestakov, Head of the Federal Agency for Fisheries, said in his welcoming remarks. "It is not only the volume of catch that plays a crucial role here, but also, of course, jobs and the development of the Arctic regions.

"Russia has signed an agreement on countering IUU fishing, agreed not to start commercial fishing in the central part of the Arctic, because we believe that first we need to scientifically substantiate what we can do in this region, what kind of fishing gear to use, what to catch, and only after that we can make a decision on how to jointly manage resources in the open part. 

Science is the basis for the development of fisheries. There is such a term "sustainable fisheries". For Russia it is one of the most important principles, we have always worked and will continue to do so only according to it.

Recently, we have conducted a large number of scientific studies, our scientific vessels have made two transarctic expeditions, our experts have studied fish stocks throughout the Arctic. And in this regard, we have managed to do a lot: we have discovered and commercialized new reserves in the Chukchi Sea, and discovered reserves in the Kara Sea, although we have not yet put them into commercial use.

Climate is changing. It is very important to monitor the dynamics of stock distribution, including that in the Laptev Sea and other Arctic seas. The accumulated data will make it possible to forecast more precisely, from a scientific point of view, what will happen in the Arctic."

In turn, the Governor of Arkhangelsk region, Alexander, Tsybulsky noted: "In the near future, the Northern Sea Route (NSR) will be an important engine for the development of the northern territories. On the one hand, melting ice in the Arctic makes this route more accessible; on the other, it is a sovereign transport corridor for Russia, which in today's foreign policy environment is extremely important. In this regard, the development of the Arkhangelsk transport hub is also becoming important.

Now, we are working with federal agencies on the possibility of subsidizing the transportation of goods along the Northern Sea Route. This is important, since icebreaker assistance to ships and security along the NSR are expensive measures.

Today, we are at the point where we are beginning to realise that human resources are the most important resource for any industry. The infrastructure can be created, but it will not work without professional personnel. Therefore, we pay special attention to the training of qualified personnel, including in the fishing industry.

In 2021, the Higher School of Fisheries and Marine Technologies of the NARFU was established at the Arkhangelsk Marine Fishing Technical School, where today more than 500 people are trained in five specializations. Starting from September 1, 2023, a new bachelor's degree programme in Aquatic Bioresources and Aquaculture will be launched, Governor Alexander Tsybulsky said in conclusion.

"The Arctic is an area of overlapping interests for many states, not only those with Arctic territories," Kirill Kolonchin, Director of the Russian Federal Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography (VNIRO), said in his speech. "Climate is changing globally and this, along with the emergence of new technology, has set the stage for the active development of this harsh region.

The Arkhangelsk region, as an Arctic region where the interests of international corporations converge, should be an "attraction" for discussions on issues related to environmental monitoring, fisheries renewal and the development of coastal and estuarine areas".

"Businesses that are willing to invest in projects in new, difficult-to-develop territories share a certain 'genetic code'," German Zverev, President of the All-Russian Association of Fishery Enterprises, Entrepreneurs and Exporters (VARPE), emphasized in his speech. "The Russian industrialist, who made his fortune in some profitable markets for his time, but who invested that fortune in the development of the Arctic, is key to the development of the region. 

Entrepreneurs who aim to explore uncharted regions, harsh latitudes, share several traits. The first is the presence of a financial leverage on which such businessmen already earn serious money. The second is the willingness to enter into high-risk projects. And the third is the willingness to participate in infrastructure projects," German Zverev elaborated.

During this two-day forum, Igor Shpakov, consultant at the FAO Moscow Office, gave presentations at two round tables.  

At the round table on the topic "Challenges of sustainable exploitation of Arctic aquatic biological resources under climate change" The FAO expert cited "changes in abiotic conditions caused by warming" as one of the main challenges. A "reduction in the volume of ice and an increase in light penetration into the water column" is occurring, resulting in: Increase in surface water temperature; Change in the current system (increased volume of incoming water from the Atlantic and Pacific basins); Increase in river flow volume; Decrease in surface water salinity; Increase in water acidity; Increase in storm intensity and frequency. Due to the combination of these factors, scientists have recorded a number of significant changes in "biota at all trophic levels of marine ecosystems."  

Igor Shpakov drew particular attention to the problem of increasing acidification: "Over the past 30 years, the input of CO² from the atmosphere into the Arctic Ocean has increased threefold, including
due to the additional diffusion of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere into the water because of the increased duration of the ice-free period". 

"The chemical composition of water is changing, the concentration of carbonate ions, which a wide variety of marine organisms needs to build seashells, shells and skeletons, is decreasing." In some cases, however, "seasonal ocean acidification leads to the dissolution of bivalve shells".

At the same time, there is also good news, the FAO expert stressed. In the Barents Sea "there is a shift of fishing areas in the north and east. There has been a significant increase in biodiversity over 30 years. If in the 1990s eight species of fish were caught per trawl, in 2020 13 species were. There has been an expansion of Kamchatka crab habitat."

Climate change in the region, according to scientists, may lead to "a restructuring of the marine ecosystems of the Barents, White and Kara Seas, changes in fish migration and redistribution of fisheries, as well as the emergence of independent self-reproducing populations in their water areas in the foreseeable future".  

At the round table on "Arctic Ecosystems: Status and Prospects in the Context of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration", Igor Shpakov summarised the main developments in the region, namely:

• The average annual warming in the region is twice the global average, increasing the likelihood of the ice mass disappearing altogether by 2050.
• In March 2023, the ice cover was 14.6 million square kilometres, a reduction of 40 000 square kilometres annually compared to 1979. 
• Permafrost is thawing, leading to massive soil erosion and forced changes in the way of life and locations of nomadic Indigenous Peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East of Russia.
• There is a release of methane from the shelves of the seas. The East Siberian Arctic shelf alone is more than 2 million square kilometres, which contains three times more methane than all the marshes of the Arctic region.

The Arctic, however, is "Russia's resource wealth, including its unexplored shelf reserves". The Arctic, Igor Shpakov noted, "stores up to 90% of cobalt and nickel, more than 90% of platinum group metals, about 80% of natural gas, about 20% of oil, and already generates 20% of federal budget revenue."

FAO shares the approach that, given the magnitude of the possible negative impacts of climate change and human activities on the environment, international environmental cooperation should be a united effort of the global community, taking into account regional specificities. In this sense, structures such as the Barents Euro-Arctic Council (BEAC) and the Arctic Council, among others, have a positive role to play in the Arctic. 

The UN Decade for Ecosystem Restoration (2021-2030) aims to reverse "the degradation of all types of ecosystems (terrestrial, freshwater and marine) and ensure their effective restoration to conserve biodiversity and enhance food security. FAO, along with UNEP, is the responsible coordinator of this initiative aimed at building a strong global movement to eliminate inter-agency fragmentation while developing uniform environmental rules and regulations." 

"The Arctic," Igor Shpakov stressed in conclusion, "is a crucial region for the implementation of environmental protection programmes and projects."