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Arctic Fishing Pact signed while drilling continues

First the good news: five countries bordering the Arctic, including Russia, the U.S. and Canada, have just signed a declaration preventing unregulated commercial fishing in the central Arctic Ocean.

Okay, fine, so the countries didn’t ban the possibility of fishing forever, but just until the area’s marine life is better understood, scientifically speaking. Joint studies were also announced. The declaration concedes that fishing is unlikely to happen “in the near future” but acknowledges that “dramatic reduction of Arctic sea ice” would certainly open up the possibility.

There’s yet been no sign that the same nations will agree to stop Arctic drilling. But there is movement for change.

South of the border, a new bill to permanently ban oil and gas drilling in the Arctic was introduced. Even the U.S. Department of the Interior has noted that there’s a 75 per cent chance of one or more large oil spills happening if the Arctic is developed.

Meanwhile, #ShellNo protests trying to prevent the oil giant from drilling in the Arctic have reached new heights. Over a dozen Greenpeace protesters rappelled off Portland’s tallest bridge, blocking the Shell icebreaker so it had to sail back to dry dock on July 30. Shell needs the ship to ramp up exploratory drilling in Alaska Chukchi Sea.

After a 40-hour standoff, a court order forced the activists to back off and let the icebreaker through. 

At the same time, the Canadian branch of the environmental group is trying to outflank Shell on the regulatory side after Environment Canada announced that it’ll permit the use of toxic chemical dispersant Corexit to clean up offshore oil spills in Canada.

Greenpeace says the decision, which it calls “dangerously misguided,” comes at the behest of Shell Canada, and ignores scientific evidence that the chemical presents a serious threat to marine wildlife, ecosystems and people.

ecoholic@nowtoronto.com | @ecoholicnation

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