From a paper for publication in a peer-reviewed fisheries science and policy journal in Russia ("Rybnoye khozyaystvo" translated as “Fisheries”).
Beyond the exclusive economic zones (EEZs) of the five Arctic coastal states – Russia, United States, Canada, Denmark (Greenland), and Norway -- lies an area of high seas encompassing 2.8 million square kilometers or roughly the size of the Mediterranean Sea. Although these international waters lie beyond national jurisdiction, their status for commercial fishing has never had practical importance: the Central Arctic Ocean has been covered with ice for 800,000 years.The rapid melting of the Central Arctic Ocean could provide access to potential new fishing grounds for a globally mobile fleet of large factory processors that range the world for protein sources. Rapid melting of Arctic sea ice makes it necessary to clarify the status of the Central Arctic Ocean.
