Shipping, fisheries and aquaculture

Much of the shipping in the Barents area is related to fishing, which takes place year-round in the ice-free parts of the Barents Sea. Up to 1600 fishing vessels are involved each year (Arctic Council, 2009), with around 5000 ships in total operating within the Barents Sea (Arctic Council, 2009;

Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 2014; NNCA, 2015).

In 2014, there were 3451 ship crossings of the delimitation line between Russia and Norway in the Barents Sea, similar to the number in 2012 (3823) and 2013 (3464). Shipping requiring pilotage to and from ports in the counties of Troms and Finnmark (9344 cases in 2014) and Nordland (8693 cases) (NNCA, 2015). The Barents Sea is important in connecting the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, Siberia and continental Europe, and the landmasses between the big Siberian rivers that stretch more than 2000 km south from the Arctic coast to the Trans-Siberian railway. The Barents Sea is home to the Russian Northern Fleet, which uses the Barents area waters both as an operational area and as a transit area from its base on the Kola Peninsula to other oceans, ice-infested oceans as well as blue waters. The number of fishing-vessels-days in the Barents, White and Pechora Seas was estimated at 50,000 to 100,000 in 2004 (Arctic Council, 2009).

2 http://vedlozero.ru/knowledge/karelia/economy/1191-agriculture.html/

3 http://murmanskstat.gks.ru/wps/wcm/connect/rosstat_ts/murmanskstat/ru/municipal_statistics/main_indicators/

Fisheries thus constitute a major economic sector in Norway and Russia, and much of its produce is for export (see Figure 2.15).

The bulk of the Norwegian fish has been exported to countries such as France and Russia (Regional Council of Lapland et al., 2007, however, exports to Russia are currently limited by an export embargo). Internationally, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS; United Nations, 1982, 1995) establishes the basic legal framework for marine areas under which all sea fisheries must operate. This entails among other things, delimitation and constitution of maritime zones, including EEZs. To enhance the protection of common marine ecosystems, states throughout the world adopt regional seas agreements, also encouraged by UNCLOS. The Barents Sea, part of the Arctic Ocean and the North-East Atlantic are covered by the OSPAR Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic. In addition, the 1992 Convention on Biological Diversity applies to both Barents marine and terrestrial ecosystems. Other prominent global conventions applicable to the marine area and shipping are the 1973 Convention on the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL 73/78) and the 1974 International Convention on the Safety of Life at Sea. Straddling and highly migratory fish stocks are also covered by a dedicated UN Agreement (1995). In the field of fisheries management for shared living resources, states are encouraged to cooperate or even establish regional fisheries management organizations (RFMOs) for particular areas (primarily high seas) or fish stocks. In the North-East Atlantic and the Barents Sea the best example of an RFMO is the North-East Atlantic Fisheries Commission (NEAFC), which regulates fisheries in North Atlantic high seas and produces (upon state’s request) recommendations for its parties’ own EEZs. Since 1974/76, the Joint Russian-Norwegian Fisheries Commission has provided management advice on the most important fish stocks in the Barents and Norwegian seas, including quotas and minimum sizes for jointly managed live marine resources.

Unlike many marine fish stocks, the Barents Sea fish stocks are generally in good health. In Russia, the main goal of fisheries management, as defined by the Federal Fisheries Act, is the

‘protection and rational use’ of aquatic biological resources.

The Russian system does not have an explicit environmental policy for the fisheries, but a number of Federal requirements apply to the protection of the environment. In the Barents Sea area, the Joint Norwegian-Russian Fishery Commission plays a key role in managing shared stocks. This commission coordinates a number of cooperative research projects, focused on enhancing understanding of the Barents Sea ecosystem and factors driving the dynamics of the most important commercial species. Total Allowable Catches (TACs) are based on recommendations by this commission. Management plans for ecosystem-based management of the Barents Sea also exist (e.g. Norwegian Ministry of the Environment 2001, 2006, 2011). These plans cover the Norwegian EEZ and the fisheries protection zone around Svalbard, and provide a framework for the sustainable use of natural resources and goods derived from the Barents Sea-Lofoten area, including the identification of valuable areas and setting of objectives for species management to be implemented through protected areas management. In spring 2014, a contract was signed by the Russian State Company Sevmorgeo ASA and the Russian Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment stipulating that Russian institutions, under the leadership of Sevmorgeo, must prepare an action plan for managing the resources in the Russian part of the Barents Sea, using an ecosystem-based approach (Bokhanov et al., 2013) (see Figure 2.16).

In Norway, it has been noted that more efficient harvesting and the development of more high-end products have increased the value of fish landed. Increasingly sophisticated fishing technology creates more business-oriented fishermen, and a younger generation with more education and higher expectations now constitute the primary cohort of fishers in Norway (Nordic Council of Ministers, 2011). However, there has Figure 2.15 Industrial ports and shipped goods in the Barents area (ÅF-Infraplan, 2005).

Iron ore

been a simultaneous decline in local fi sheries with that described for forestry (Section 2.3.6): the small-scale coastal fi shing pattern that was prevalent historically is increasingly being replaced by high technology, fewer fi shers and larger companies and trawlers (Keskitalo, 2008a). Changes that could increase with climate change, such as the movement of cold-water fi sh northwards and a shift in fi sh species, are already exacerbating these trends, and diff erent technologies such as ocean-going vessels and the need to possess quotas for other (more expensive) species may limit the extent to which local fi shers can cope with changing circumstances (see Keskitalo, 2008a).

Fish farming has been driven by a growing international demand over the past few years. Th e main production takes place in Norwegian waters, where production of salmonids dominates and has become one of the country’s leading export industries.

Th e Norwegian share of Arctic aquaculture is currently 98%

of total value (Hermansen and Troell, 2012), with Finland and Sweden producing small volumes of freshwater species and some production of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) in the Murmansk region. In the period 1998–2015 Norway’s total fi sh farming production increased from about 0.4 million tons to 1.4 million tons. In 2015, the three northernmost counties (those included in the Barents Region) contributed almost 40% of Norway’s aquaculture production. Th is is an increase from ~27% in 1998 (Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries, 2015). About 2000 people were employed in the Norwegian aquaculture industry in the three northernmost counties in

2015 (Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries, 2015). In Norway, disease, lice, and escape from sea cages are major challenges, and eff orts are being made to solve these problems by using new technology and moving production off shore or onto land.

Fish farming is a major source of nitrogen and phosphorus to Norwegian coastal waters. In 2013, discharges from fi sh-farming in Nordland, Troms and Finnmark counties accounted for about 85% (nitrogen) and 90% (phosphorus) of the total anthrophonic inputs of these substances to this coastline (Selvik and Høgåsen, 2014). However, the water bodies on this coastline are considered of good or high status according to the EU Water Framework Directive, and as a non-problem area for eutrophication according to the OSPAR screening procedure (Norderhaug et.al, 2016). Availability of marine foodstuff s is another challenge. Th e development of aquaculture into a large-scale industry with a high concentration of ownership creates further tensions with the local communities, which make space available for the industry but which may see few positive benefi ts of this activity. In Russia, aquaculture has decreased four-fold since 1990 leading to the development of the Federal law “On aquaculture (fi sh farming) and amendments to certain legislative acts of the Russian Federation”. Th e sector is now under strong development in the Murmansk region, where the volume of raised commercial fi sh is now signifi cantly higher; increasing from 440 tons in 2007 to 16,300 tons in 2012 (Strategy for development of the Murmansk region, 2013).

Further development of this sector is planned, as it is expected Figure 2.16 National jurisdictions in the Barents Sea, and the corresponding ICES fi shery management areas (Norwegian Mapping Authority). Polarsirkelen

80°N

70°N Svalbard

66°33’45’

’N Jan Mayen

Franz Josef Land

Fisheries Protection Zone around Svalbard

Fisheries Zone around

Jan Mayen Economic Zone for Norway

Economic Zone for Russia

Novaya Zemlya

International Waters

International Waters

10°E 20°E 30°E

0° 40°E

10°W

that measures underway will drive an increase in the volume of fish farmed from 16,300 in 2012 to 98,900 by 2025 (a six-fold increase). However, aquaculture in northwestern Russia may be significantly affected, positively or negatively, by trade sanctions against the EU and Norway introduced by the Russian Federation in 2014.