the Ice in the Arctic is melting dangerously fast.
Not since the satellittmålinger of ice in the areas around the north Pole started in 1979, it is measured lower ismengder than now.
marine scientists the world over agree that the seas where fast ice goes over to the open is an extremely valuable and vulnerable area in the Arctic.
Here takes place a very large production of plankton and algae, which are eaten by crustaceans, fish, marine mammals and seabirds.
– Oil extraction in the edge of the sea ice poses a significant reputational risk for Norway internationally. says Karoline Andaur WWF World wildlife fund.
Photo: Private
It is also here where the oil industry and parts of the Norwegian government wants to drill for oil and gas.
Hope on the Right
As of easter should the government put forward its new management plan for the vulnerable areas in the far north in the Barents sea, the so-called edge of the sea ice.
the Advice from The institute of marine research, the Norwegian polar institute and Miljødirektoratet is clear – the edge of the sea ice should be moved to the south.
WWF World wildlife fund and Norges Fiskarlag expect that the Parliament is listening to the professional advice.
– We need to have a wide iskantsone that goes far to the south. I hope that your Right as a responsible styringsparti shows that they are listening on the miljøfaglige advice, ” says the general secretary Karoline Andaur WWF World wildlife fund.
Where the start actually, the sea ice in the Arctic? The experts disagree.
Kjell Ingebrigtsen chairman of Norges Fiskarlag. For the fishermen is the edge of the sea ice a very important basis for the fisheries.
– the Norwegian fishing industry is of great importance for the world’s food production. Each year brought more than two million tonnes of seafood in the country, which is the equivalent of almost 30 million meals every day, all year round, ” says Ingebrigtsen.
– Should an oil spill occur in the Barents sea, it will take a long time to deal with it, ” says chairman Kjell Ingebrigtsen in Norges Fiskarlag.
Photo: David Engmo
Norges Fiskarlag believe that the goals in the upcoming management plan must be designed to ensure the basis for the fisheries, so that one can continue to harvest food from the sea in a sustainable and rational way.
– It is essential that this is reflected in the parliamentary process, turn Kjell Ingebrigtsen chairman of Norges Fiskarlag fixed.
He is also concerned that the security and emergency preparedness in the high north is stated in the new management plan.
the common Guillemot on a drifting iceberg in Svalbard. In the Arctic, complements the common guillemot the same tasks in the food chain as the penguins do in the Antarctic.
Photo: Håkon Mosvold Larsen / Scanpix
– It has in recent years been several incidents which show that preparedness and safety at sea is not good enough, especially in the high north, ” says Ingebrigtsen.
Excited eksminister
member of parliament Kjell Børge Freiberg from the Progress party.
Photo: Markus Thonhaugen / NRK
What the government lands on is not known. Political adviser Erlend Jordal (H) in the ministry of Petroleum and energy holds the cards close to her chest.
– the Content, we will return to when the government has concluded its work and the report is submitted.
that is waiting anxiously on the new plan are former oil and energy minister from the christian people’s party, Kjell Børge Freiberg.
He believes that oil and gas production at the ice edge is not so problematic as the WWF and Fiskarlaget want it to. The security will be being taken care of, believe Freiberg.
– Forvaltningsplanene is about Norway’s future. It’s not one or the other. It is fully possible of coexistence. Actually, we have already an activity in the Barents sea, “Goliath”. And “Johan Castberg” is on the way.
WWF believes the time is about to run from the oil and gas activities in the Arctic.
– the Time it takes from making a discovery to production takes an average of 16 years. In 2030, the EUROPEAN union have halved their emissions, and when will the demand for Norwegian oil and gas will be lower. It isn’t hanging together with the objectives in the Parisavtalen.
It is Parliament that should take the final decision. And where the Labour party lands in this case can be crucial for oil and gassaktiviteten in the north
In the late summer are 80-90 per cent of the global ismåkebestanden in the edge of the sea ice in the Barents sea.
Photo: Geir Wing Gabrielsen / Norwegian polar institute
BIG DIFFERENCE: Arealforskjellen between the two proposed isfrekvensene at 0.5 and 30 percent. It is about an area a little less than half the area of Mainland Norway.
Photo: WWF
