"Accord Would Regulate Fishing in Arctic Waters"

"MOSCOW — It was once protected by ice. Now regulation will have to do the work."

"The governments of the five countries with coastline on the Arctic have concluded that enough of the polar ice cap now melts regularly in the summertime that an agreement regulating commercial fishing near the North Pole is warranted.

Talks are scheduled for later this month among diplomats and fisheries officials from Norway, Denmark, Canada, the United States and Russia. Most concern is focused on newly ice-free waters above the Bering Strait, above the exclusive economic zones of Russia and the United States, and now accessible to trawler fleets from hungry Pacific Ocean nations like China and Japan. "

Andrew E. Kramer reports for the New York Times April 16, 2013.