The Alaska Native communities of the American Arctic rely upon their ancient subsistence practices for their food security, the continuation of their cultural traditions, and their physical and spiritual well-being. Industry interest in offshore resources will inevitably lead to potential conflicts with the historic subsistence uses of Alaska Natives.

In 2013, do the Inuit on either side of the U.S.-Canada Beaufort Sea maritime boundary have better tools for taking more meaningful part in decisions relating to offshore oil and gas development in the Arctic than they did in the wake of the 2010 Macondo/Deepwater Horizon explosion and spill? A review of legal and policy developments in both countries over that three-year period allows the conclusion that U.S.

Identifying marine areas of significance for Arctic communities is crucial for preventing future conflicts between coastal communities and marine-based industries. The Arctic Marine Shipping Assessment 2009 Report recommends that states conduct surveys on Arctic marine use by indigenous communities to help assess impacts from Arctic shipping activities. Arctic indigenous use mapping practices employed to date include a range of practices used in mapping the indigenous use of Arctic marine resources.

Offshore oil and gas development in arctic Alaska carries a high risk of interference with nutritionally and culturally critical bowhead whale subsistence hunting. Since the mid-1980s, the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission has engaged offshore oil and gas exploration and development companies, including oil majors, in an annual process of collaboration and negotiation to create mitigation measures capable of avoiding adverse impacts to bowhead whales, habitat, and hunting opportunities.

Global climate change, with its resulting loss of sea ice, has opened up access to the Arctic Ocean as never before. Moreover, the rate of global warming and the pace of development are accelerating. Stakeholders have different ideas on how to handle these changes. Depending on one’s perspective, the pace of development seems to be either too fast or too slow; and, like most contentious issues, the best solutions may lie somewhere in the middle. 

The eight Arctic countries, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden, and the United States, are in the initial phases of a profound journey to devise novel mechanisms through which they can collectively assure wise stewardship of the Arctic. This journey is urgent because the Arctic now faces dramatic changes that for the first time in millennia will transform the essential fabric of the region. These changes are not only fundamental, they are happening with unprecedented speed.