Arctic Update Header
April 3, 2014

capital Today's Congressional Action:   

The House and Senate will consider non-Arctic legislation today.

Media 

    

Steller Seal
New Biological Opinion on Steller Sea Lions Gives OK for Expanded Aleutians Fishing.
Some of the rules that limit commercial fishing in the western Aleutian Islands are no longer needed to protect endangered Steller sea lions, federal regulators said in a management document issued Wednesday. In a 281-page biological opinion,
the National Marine Fisheries Service said a new arrangement of Aleutian fishing seasons for pollock, Atka mackerel and Pacific cod has resulted in a harvest system that does not pose additional jeopardy to the fish-eating sea lions. Alaska Dispatch 

 

The Canadian Polar Commission Polar Knowledge Ap. Use this app to get information from across the spectrum of polar knowledge - from Canada and the circumpolar world. Connect with Arctic and Antarctic experts, find out who is doing polar research and where, locate polar science infrastructure and monitoring sites. Learn about northern communities. Check out the Polar Blog or find out about upcoming conferences, workshops and more with the Calendar of Polar Events. iTunes

 

president signing Obama to Pressure Iceland to Stop Whale Hunt. The world's whales have been getting a helping hand from high places in recent days. On Monday, the International Court of Justice told Japan that it must halt its whaling activities in the Antarctic, and now US president Barack Obama has told American federal agencies that they should take actions to encourage Iceland to end its commercial whaling activities. "Iceland's actions jeopardise the survival of the fin whale," Obama wrote in a message to the US Congress dated April 1. "I believe that continuing focus on Icelandic whaling activities is needed to encourage Iceland to halt commercial whaling and support international conservation efforts." Arctic Journal

 

To Vote or Not to Vote? Aboriginal People in Northern Quebec to Decide. To vote or not to vote -- that is the question for many Quebecers caught up in the April 7 general election. Perhaps the least excited electors are the aboriginal people of the North, even though this election could ultimately have enormous impact on them and their communities. Alaska Dispatch

 

Finland Struggles to Deal with Diabetes Explosion. Every ninth person in Finland already suffers from diabetes, but experts say that figure could double in the next decade. The cost of treating diabetes currently eats up 15 percent of the total healthcare budget, and experts in the field are looking for ways to improve their handling of the disease. Alaska Dispatch

 

Hillary Warns Against Russia in Arctic. The firmly enrooted spirit of Arctic peace and cooperative efforts could be in jeopardy as new cold winds are blowing over East-West relations. At least if judging from Hillary Rodham Clinton. Speaking in Montreal this week, Clinton threw a burning American torch into the Arctic discourse, indicating that Russian expansionist approaches could include also the high north. According to the prominent politician, east-west relations in the vast northern region will not stay unaffected by Russia's annexation of the Crimea. Canada and the USA should forge a united front against Russia in the region, she argued. Barents Observer

 

Arctic Sea Ice Falls to Fifth Lowest Level on Record. Arctic sea ice remained on its death spiral on Wednesday, with the amount of winter ice cover falling to its fifth lowest on the satellite record, scientists at the National Snow and Ice Data Center said. The scientists said Arctic sea ice extent for March averaged 14.80m sq km. That's 730,000 sq km below the 1981-2010 satellite average. The Guardian

 

Norway Seafood Exports Boom on $435m Salmon Sales Hike. Norway saw its seafood exports boom by 25% in value in the first three months of the year, another record driven largely by a huge increase in salmon sales. The country's seafood exports topped NOK 16.8bn in the first quarter of 2014, a NOK 3.36bn increase from NOK 13.44bn the same time last year. Undercurrent News

Legislative Actionfutureevents  

  

H.R. 1491, To authorize the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to provide certain funds to eligible entities for activities undertaken to address the marine debris impacts of the March 2011 Tohoku earthquake and subsequent tsunami, and for other purposes. (Introduced by Representative Bonamici. Yesterday, the bill was reported by the House Resources Committee)

 

H.R. 1425, Marine Debris Emergency Act of 2013 (Introduced by Representative Bonamici. Yesterday, the bill was reported by the House Resources Committee)

 

S. 1472, Alaska Safe Families and Villages Act of 2013 (Introduced by Senator Mark Begich. Yesterday, Senate hearings were held on the bill.)

Future Events

 

Association of American Geographers Polar Geography Sessions, April 8-12, 2014 (Tampa, Florida).  Polar Geography Sessions are being planned in areas such as Sustainable Development in the Arctic, Urbanization and Transportation in the Arctic, etc. Contact Scott Stephenson (stephenson@ucla.edu) for more information, and see attached flyer. 

 

Arctic Science Summit Week April 5-8, 2014 and Arctic Observing Summit, April 9-11 (Helsinki, Finland). ASSW is a gathering for Arctic research organizations. Any organization engaged in supporting and facilitating arctic research is welcome to participate. The ASSW meeting in 2014 will be arranged during April 5-8 in Helsinki Kumpula Campus, in the facilities of FMI and Physics Department of the University of Helsinki. Second circular here

 

Alaska Policy Commission. May 6-7, 2014 (Anchorage, Alaska). The Alaska Arctic Policy Commission (AAPC) has more important work to do in 2014. The Commission will strive to gather public input and engage with Alaskan communities, state agencies, federal partners, and the international organizations working in the Arctic. In order to meet our goals AAPC will convene three in-person meetings over the course of 2014 and focus on implementation and final recommendations. The draft agenda is available here

 

International Congress of Arctic Social Sciences, May 22-24, 2014. ICASS is held every three years, bringing together people from all over the world to share ideas about social science research in the Arctic. ICASS VII, held in Akureyri in June 2011, attracted 450 participants from 30 different countries. ICASS VIII's theme is Northern Sustainabilities. By using the plural, ICASS underscores both that 'sustainability' has social, cultural, economic, political and environmental dimensions, and that definitions of the concept vary. Yet, while debating specific definitions, most would agree that working toward sustainable ways of living in the North and on approaches to sustainable engagement with the North, are critical both to the North's and to the world's future. Community sustainability in the North, whether for small settlements or large urban conglomerations, requires new models of food and energy security, and of access to employment, health care and social and cultural services for residents.

 

Arctic in the Athropocene. June 23-July 2, 2014 (Potsdam, Germany). Under the overarching theme "Arctic in the Anthropocene", this two-week interdisciplinary and interactive event will be the first in a series of Potsdam Summer Schools to be held annually. The goal is to bring together early-career scientists and young professionals from research departments, governmental and non-governmental agencies and organizations, as well as the private sector from all around the world. Participants will deal with global challenges and address urgent questions on how to shape sustainable futures in the Arctic and beyond from a scientific and socioeconomic point of view. 

 

Alaska Policy Commission. August 26-27, 2014 (Kotzebue-Nome, Alaska). The Alaska Arctic Policy Commission (AAPC) has more important work to do in 2014. The Commission will strive to gather public input and engage with Alaskan communities, state agencies, federal partners, and the international organizations working in the Arctic. In order to meet our goals AAPC will convene three in-person meetings over the course of 2014 and focus on implementation and final recommendations. 

 

Arctic Circle, October 31-November 2, 2014 (Reyjavik, Iceland).

The Arctic Circle is nonprofit and nonpartisan. Organizations, forums, think tanks, corporations and public associations around the world are invited to hold meetings within the Arctic Circle platform to advance their own missions and the broader goal of increasing collaborative decision-making without surrendering their institutional independence. The Arctic Circle will organize sessions on a variety of issues, such as: Sea ice melt and extreme weather; Polar law: treaties and agreements; The role and rights of indigenous peoples; Security in the Arctic; Shipping and transportation infrastructure; The prospects and risks of oil and gas drilling; Clean energy achievements and sustainable development; Arctic resources; Business cooperation in the Arctic; The role of Asian and European countries in the Arctic; Greenland in the new Arctic; Fisheries and ecosystem management; The science of ice: global research cooperation; Arctic tourism; The ice-dependent world: the Arctic and the Himalayas. 

 

Alaska Policy Commission. November 13-14, 2014 (Anchorage, Alaska). The Alaska Arctic Policy Commission (AAPC) has more important work to do in 2014. The Commission will strive to gather public input and engage with Alaskan communities, state agencies, federal partners, and the international organizations working in the Arctic. In order to meet our goals AAPC will convene three in-person meetings over the course of 2014 and focus on implementation and final recommendations. 

 

The Arctic Biodiversity Congress, December 2-4, 2014. (Trondheim, Norway). The Arctic Biodiversity Congress will present and discuss the main scientific findings of the ABA; facilitate inter-disciplinary discussion, action and status updates on the policy recommendations in the ABA; provide scientific, policy, management, NGO, academia, Indigenous peoples and industry audiences the opportunity to collaborate around the themes of the ABA; advise CAFF on national and international implementation of the ABA recommendations and on the development of an ABA Implementation Plan for the Arctic Council; highlight the work of CAFF and the Arctic Council on circumpolar biodiversity conservation and sustainable development; and, contribute to mainstreaming of biodiversity and ecosystem services, ensuring that the recommendations of the ABA are implemented by not just governments, but many organizations and people across disciplines.

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