Recommendation 184

As with other economic activity in the Arctic, the growth of fishing is currently constrained by ice coverage and the challenges of operating in a harsh environment with limited search and rescue facilities. Commercial fishing is concentrated in the Bering and Barents Seas and is of huge economic significance to Greenland, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Norway and Alaska. 212 There is currently no commercial fishing in the international waters of the central Arctic Ocean, which historically has been covered by ice. However, that ice is melting and there are now parts that are ice-free and accessible to specialised vessels during the summer. This raises the prospect of commercial fishing in the central Arctic Ocean in the decades to come.