Arctic Ocean

Published on: October 28, 2025

The Jones Act and Its Relevance to the Arctic

The waiver of the Jones Act which allows Finland to construct four Arctic Security Cutters for the U.S. Coast Guard represents a significant point at which Arctic geopolitics, fishing rights, and maritime policy intersect. This crucial decision highlights the challenges arising from longstanding protective laws and the conditions presented by the rapid changes to the Arctic Ocean.

As Arctic sea ice recedes to record lows each year, previously inaccessible areas are opening to human economic activity which include commercial fishing in waters once covered by permanent ice. The Arctic region also contains approximately 13 percent of the world’s oil, about a third of the world’s natural gas, and rare earth minerals on the sea floor. Warming waters, shifting fish migration patterns, and longer ice free seasons are driving commercial fishery growth in areas like the U.S. Arctic Exclusive Economic Zone, as fish ranges expand into the newly exposed central Arctic Ocean.

The Merchant Marine Act of 1920, commonly known as the Jones Act, requires that ships operating between U.S. ports must be American built, flagged, and crewed. Originally devised to bolster the Merchant Marine fleet after the First World War, the Jones Act has become the support system for domestic commercial shipbuilding. However, this measure has created some obstacles for Arctic operations.

Published on: August 20, 2024

Coast Guard to Purchase Polar Icebreaker Aiviq

by Joseph Stacey

The U.S. Coast Guard has confirmed plans to purchase a commercial icebreaker and deploy it in Juneau, Alaska, the agency announced on Wednesday, August 14, 2024. This decision follows an earlier preliminary announcement and comes just days after the HEALY, a 27-year-old icebreaker, was forced to abandon its Arctic mission due to an electrical fire.

Currently, the U.S. Coast Guard operates only two icebreakers. The HEALY’S sister ship, the POLAR STAR, is dedicated to maintaining sea lanes in Antarctica, which are crucial for resupplying American research stations. The U.S. Navy, notably, does not have any icebreakers in its fleet, leaving the U.S. Coast Guard as the sole operator of these essential vessels.

Alaska’s congressional delegation has long advocated for increased funding to allow the U.S. Coast Guard to expand its fleet of icebreakers, stressing the importance of these ships for both Arctic and Antarctic operations.

Published on: April 30, 2019

U.S. Coast Guard to Secure Arctic

by Joseph Stacey

The U.S. Coast Guard recently released the new Arctic Strategic Outlook with a focus on leadership and innovation in the changing landscape of our nation. At a symposium in Seattle, Washington, the area commander discussed the new document and the role that the U.S. Coast Guard must take in the future. Keynote speaker Vice Adm. Linda Fagan said, “The tyranny of distance and the harsh Arctic climate pose significant challenges to agencies charged with providing maritime safety and security to all Americans, including the hundreds of villages and thousands of seasonal workers in the U.S. Arctic.”

Maritime workers rely heavily on the U.S. Coast Guard as first responders, but the Coast Guard also services the maritime economy as a regulatory agency; it is responsible for conducting marine inspections and serving as law enforcement.

“Search and rescue, law enforcement, marine safety, waterways management, and other Coast Guard missions are complicated by the Arctic’s dynamic and remote operating environment,” Fagan said at the symposium. “The Coast Guard will collaborate with stakeholders to develop new practices and technology to serve the maritime community and manage risk in the region.”

Published on: December 5, 2017

Restricting Commercial Fishing in the Arctic Ocean

by Joseph Stacey

In what is being called an historic agreement, countries have joined forces and agreed to a moratorium on commercial fishing within the unregulated Arctic Ocean. Five countries with Arctic shorelines, the United States, Canada, Russia, Norway, and Denmark (representing Greenland), have come to an agreement with Iceland, China, Japan, South Korea, and the European Union. All have signed on.

While commercial fishing in the icebound Arctic Ocean would not have been a possibility even a decade ago, the area is rapidly opening. Scientists agree that the polar ice cap is melting at an alarming rate, and current studies show that about 42% of the central Arctic Ocean thaws during the summer months. If this trajectory continues, commercial fishing fleets will before long have access to these unregulated waters. The agreement prohibits trawling in the international zone of the Arctic Ocean for 16 years. This will allow scientists to better understand the region’s marine ecology and form a plan for sustainable fishing.

The agreement protects approximately 2.8 million square kilometers of international waters, and was reached following more than two years of discussions and negotiations, according to Science magazine. “It’s the first time an international agreement of this magnitude has been reached before any commercial fishing takes place on a region of the high seas,” said Dominic LeBlanc, Canada’s minister of fisheries, oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, in a statement. “There is no other high seas area where we’ve decided to do the science first,” says Scott Highleyman, vice president of conservation policy and programs at the Ocean Conservancy in Washington, D.C., who also served on the U.S. delegation to the negotiations. “It’s a great example of putting the precautionary principle into action.”