"Sea Warming Leads to Ban on Fishing in the Arctic"

"WASHINGTON — The United States and four other nations that border the Arctic Ocean pledged on Thursday to prohibit commercial fishing in the international waters of the Arctic until more scientific research could be done on how warming seas and melting ice are affecting fish stocks.

The agreement came as an annual report on the world’s climate — released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the American Meteorological Society — said that temperatures on the ocean surface reached the highest levels in 135 years of record keeping.

The ocean’s rising temperature, which was particularly acute in the Northern Pacific last year, has drawn fish stocks farther north. That development, along with the shrinking levels of ice, has raised the prospect of industrial-scale fishing in the once-inaccessible Arctic."

Steven Lee Myers reports for the New York Times July 16, 2015.

SEE ALSO:

"Russia, U.S. Agree Fishing Ban in Arctic as Sea Ice Melts" (Reuters)