Publication on Central Arctic Ocean Fisheries Agreement

The chapter “Participation in the Central Arctic Ocean Fisheries Agreement” by Erik J. Molenaar was recently published in the book Emerging Legal Orders in the Arctic: The Role of Non-Arctic Actors (A. Shibata, L. Zou, N. Sellheim and M. Scopelliti (eds); Routledge: 2019), pp. 132-170.

The primary purpose of this chapter is to examine the participation in the negotiations on the Agreement to Prevent Unregulated High Seas Fisheries in the Central Arctic Ocean (CAOF Agreement) as well as the Agreement’s provisions on participation. This analysis is undertaken in the context of the provisions on participation in regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements (RFMO/As) that are part of the framework treaties of international fisheries law, and is complemented by a comparative analysis with participation in 15 other RFMO/As. In order to facilitate a better understanding of the 4-component package deal that eventually lead to the successful conclusion of the negotiations, this chapter also takes a closer look at the interests which the participants in the negotiations on the CAOF Agreement had in the domains of international fisheries law, the international law of the sea and the international law relating to the Arctic. This provides the necessary background for the overview of key features of the CAOF Agreement, with some information on the negotiations on these.