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March 23, 2015

 

capitalToday's Congressional Action:  

The House and Senate in session and expected to consider non-Arctic legislation.

 

Media  

 

Young Young Introduces Bill to Reauthorize Magnuson-Stevens Act. Alaska Congressman Don Young has introduced a bill to reauthorize the Magnuson-Stevens Act, the nation's primary law governing fishing in federal waters. It leaves fisheries managers some controversial wiggle room. Previous versions of the law established eight regional councils and required them to set harvest limits based on science to end overfishing. The mechanism is known as the "Alaska Model" of fisheries management. Alaska Public Radio
 

NDP Seeks Emergency Commons Debate on Arctic Sea Ice Decline. The New Democratic Party's environment critic plans to request an emergency debate in the House of Commons on climate change. Responding to the news that this year's Arctic winter sea ice had dipped to a record low, Megan Leslie, MP for Halifax, stood up March 20 in the House of Commons to say she wants to see an emergency debate on March 23 to discuss Arctic sea ice decline. Nunatsiaq Online

 

Dmitry Rogozin Heads Newly Set Up State Commission on Arctic Development Issues. State commission on Arctic development issues has been set up under RF Government Decree dated March 14, 2015 (No 228) pursuant to the Presidential Decree dated February 3, 2015 (No 50). According to the Government materials, the document approves the Statute of the Arctic Development Commission, sets forth the goal and major tasks of the Commission, the issues to be considered, as well as the regulations on its establishment and activities. The document also approves the Commission members. It includes the heads of the interested federal authorities, higher officials of the Federation entities within the Arctic zone, plenipotentiary representatives of RF President in certain federal districts, representatives of the Security Council, Presidential Administration and other state authorities, scientific and public organizations. Port News

 

China Can Play Key Role in Arctic Shipping. At their best, Arctic shipping routes connect the world's largest economies in the Atlantic and Pacific via more profitable, shorter, faster and thus more environmentally friendly trade routes than conventional shipping lanes. Arctic shipping can cut distance between Shanghai and Europe by up to 40 percent, and in this decade vessels transiting through the Northern Sea Route (NSR), by the shores of Russia, have gone from four in 2010, peaking at 71 in 2013 and down to 31 in 2014. Heavy ice conditions, skeptical insurance companies and a sluggish global economy are the most common explanations given for last year's slump. What is apparent is that shipping companies and other stakeholders will have to show more commitment for any significant developments to take place in Arctic shipping, and Asia can play a key role. Maritime Executive

 

Lawmakers Press Top Officers for Arctic Plans. For weeks on Capitol Hill, lawmakers have been peppering Pentagon officials about their plans in the Arctic. Russia, it seems, is winning in the Arctic while the US military hasn't even got its snow boots on. Lawmakers in most instances referenced the testimony of Joint Chiefs Chairman Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, who with Defense Secretary Ash Carter, acknowledged the region as strategically important. Russia had just decided to reactivate six brigades, four of them in the Arctic, Dempsey said in response to questions from Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska. Defense News

 

[Opinion] Our View: Papp Will Bring Aggressive Agenda to Arctic Council. Norwich native and retired U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Robert Papp Jr. is serving as the U.S. State Department's special representative to the Arctic Council at a critical time. The U.S. will assume the chairmanship of the eight-member council next month, and for the first time in 15 years. Papp, who had a distinguished military career, is an excellent choice. Warmer Arctic temperatures have melted sealanes, opening new opportunities for maritime development along the Northwest Passage above Canada and the United States. The Norwich Bulletin

 

Legislative Actionfutureevents  

 

No Arctic legislation was formally considered Friday.

Future Events

  

Coast and Ocean Film Festival, March 28, 2015 (Anchorage, Alaska, USA) In celebration of its 10th Anniversary, the Alaska Ocean Observing System and Alaska Geographic are co-hosting a Coast & Ocean Film Festival at the Bear Tooth on Saturday, March 28th!  The festival will showcase fantastic short films that highlight an array of ocean-related topics. This event promotes ocean conservation, raises awareness about issues facing marine habitats, and celebrates Alaska's unique coast and ocean environments!

 

Sweden-U.S. Planning Workshop on Joint Arctic Research Using the I/B Oden, March 30-April 1, 2015 (Stockholm, Sweden). The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) Arctic Section is supporting a 'Planning Workshop on joint Arctic Research using the Swedish Class 1A. Icebreaker Oden.' This workshop 
is held in collaboration with the Swedish Polar Research Secretariat (SPRS) and the Swedish Research Council (Formas and VR). The US delegation will be led by Drs. Patricia Matrai (Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences) and Peter Minnett (RSMAS, U. Miami), as workshop co-organizers with Dr. Caroline Leck (Stockholm U.). This workshop will bring together those with research and operational/ logistical interests in the Arctic and will discuss a baseline for establishing a new, longer-term collaborative relationship among U.S. and Swedish scientists for Oden-based research in the Arctic Ocean. 

 

Leadership, Diplomacy and Science: Resolving the Arctic Paradox" April 13-14, 2015, (Medford, MA, USA). The 4th annual Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy International Inquiry on the Warming Arctic will convene high-level decision makers from diplomatic and security circles, cutting-edge energy and science researchers, and social, environmental and business stakeholders to investigate solutions to the Arctic Paradox and promote a sustainable future for Arctic inhabitants within a "High North, Low Tension" policy framework.  Special appearance: the North American debut of the Arctic Circle Assembly's panel "Rising Stars: Young Arctic Energy Researchers".  For more information: WarmingArctic@Tufts.edu

 

Arctic States Symposium, April 17-19, 2015 (Charlottesville, VA, USA).

ARCTIC STATES, a three-day symposium at the University of Virginia School of Architecture, brings together an international consortium of leading designers and colleagues from allied disciplines to posit the role of design in the rapidly transforming region, and generate critical discussions by sharing recent work that will trace, critique and speculate on its past, present, and future. 

 

Arctic Science Summit Week, April 23-30, 2015 (Toyama, Japan). The Arctic Science Summit Week (ASSW) is the annual gathering of the international organizations engaged in supporting and facilitating Arctic research. The purpose of the summit is to provide opportunities for coordination, collaboration and cooperation in all areas of Arctic science. The summit attracts scientists, students, policy makers and other professionals from all over the world. 


The Polar Geography and Cryosphere, April 21-25, 2015 (Chicago, IL, USA). The Polar Geography and Cryosphere Specialty Groups of the Association of American Geographers will host its annual meeting in Chicago to consider: current topics in human-environment interactions; current topics in politics, resource geographies, and extractive industries; current topics in Antarctic research; advances in cryosphere research; high latitude environments in a changing climate; an mountain ice and snow.

The House of Sweden Conference, May 19-20, 2015 (Washington, DC, USA). A two day conference focusing on changes, adaptations and opportunities for a changing Arctic. The conference will be divided into separate, but intertwined thematic segments - policy, science, climate change and green technologies. The conference is organized by the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, the Swedish Polar Research Secretariat, the Embassy of Sweden in Washington, DC and the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), and is aimed at Arctic oriented policy-makers, researchers, business representatives and NGO's in the lead-up to the U.S. chairmanship of the Arctic Council. 
 

The European Union and Arctic (2015 EU-Arctic Conference), May 29, 2015 (Dundee, UK). The School of Law, University of Dundee, UK and the K. G. Jebsen Centre for the Law of the Sea, University of Tromsų, Norway are pleased to announce the registration open for "The European Union and the Arctic" (2015 EU-Arctic Conference). This conference will bring together academics and practitioners from relevant disciplines such as international law, international relations, political science and marine biology, NGOs, representatives from EU institutions and international organizations to discuss the EU's potential contribution to enhance Arctic governance. A roadmap for increasing the effectiveness of the EU's action in the Arctic will be drawn at the end of the conference.

  

6th Symposium on the Impacts of an Ice-Diminishing Arctic on Naval and Maritime Operations, July 14-16, 2015 (Washington, DC, USA). Program in development...check back soon. To see the programs from prior symposia, click here
 

2015 ESSAS Annual Science Meeting, June 15-17, 2015 (Seattle, WA, USA). This symposium, to be held at the University of Washington, is intended for interdisciplinary scholars who will be prepared to discuss their research in the sub-arctic North Atlantic, sub-arctic North Pacific, and the Arctic Ocean that bears on the issue of how changes in sea ice are likely to affect these marine ecosystems. The symposium will also consider the people who depend upon these ecosystems and how they may be able to cope with the changes in the ecosystem goods and services that are coming. These goods and services include the availability of transportation corridors, the availability of subsistence foods, and the opportunity for commercial fishing. To put the present day in a longer perspective, the symposium will include a session on the paleo-ecology of people in sub-arctic and arctic regions that were forced to adjust to changing sea-ice conditions in the past.

 
Polar Law Symposium (8th) will be held in Alaska (Sept. 23-24, UAF; Sept. 25-26, UAA). It's sponsored by UAF, UAA (and ISER), UAA Justice Center, UW Law School. Abstracts due 3/15/15. This year's conference theme is, "The Science, Scholarship, and Practice of Polar Law: Strengthening Arctic Peoples and Places."

2015 Arctic Energy Summit, September 28-30, 2015 (Fairbanks, Alaska, USA).The Institute of the North's 2015 Arctic Energy Summit builds on our legacy efforts to address energy as a fundamental element of the sustainable development of the Arctic as a lasting frontier.Central to this concept is a focus on providing pathways for affordable energy development in the Arctic and for Arctic communities.

 
The Polar Oceans and Global Climate Change, November 3-6, 2015 (La Jolla, California USA.)  The American Polar Society will host this Symposium at Scripps Institution of Oceanography.  A flyer with a partial list of presenters is available on the Society's website (americanpolar.org) and from the Society's Membership Chairman by email.

  

11th International Conference on Permafrost (ICOP 2016), June 20-24, 2016 (Potsdam, Germany). The Alfred Wegener Institute has teamed up with UP Transfer GmbH and the University of Potsdam to organize a great conference for you, permafrost researchers. The conference aims at covering all relevant aspects of permafrost research, engineering and outreach on a global and regional level.

  

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