Its highly productive waters [4] and [5] draw millions of seabirds to nest in the area [6], and millions more migrate through in spring and fall. The Bering Sea stock of bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus), the Beaufort and East Chukchi Sea stocks of beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas), and the majority of the world׳s Pacific walrus (Odobenus rosmarus divergens) migrate through the Bering Strait PARP inhibitor [7], [8] and [9]. Gray whales (Eschrichtius robustus), humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae), minke

whales (Balaenoptera acutorostrata), bearded seals (Erignathus barbatus), ringed seals (Phoca hispida), spotted seals (Phoca largha), ribbon seals (Phoca fasciata), Steller sea lions (Eumetopias jubatus), and other marine mammals can be found here, year round or seasonally [8], [10], [11] and [12]. The region׳s communities include Chukchi, Iñupiaq, St. Lawrence Island

Yupik, Siberian Yupik, and Yup’ik peoples, who continue to practice traditional ways of harvesting food and materials from the sea [13], [14], [15] and [16], and whose rights as indigenous peoples are recognized by national and international laws and practices (e.g., the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples). In short, the stakes are high for ensuring sound management of shipping activities. The management context, however, is not simple. A recognized “international strait” under the United A-1210477 molecular weight Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the Bering Strait is subject to special rules designed to ensure that vessels of all nations have relatively unimpaired access through the strait. The International Maritime Organization (IMO) is a specialized agency within Selleck Cobimetinib the United Nations that, among other things, facilitates the adoption and implementation of regulatory measures in international straits where freedom of navigation jeopardizes vessels, people, or the environment,

and when those measures are agreed upon by the states bordering the strait. Under this legal regime, coastal states adjacent to an international strait have limited ability to act unilaterally to impose mandatory regulations on international vessels passing through that strait, but voluntary measures can be recommended and domestic measures can be imposed on vessels subject to the jurisdiction of the country passing those regulatory measures [17]. There is no question that more vessels will transit the Bering Strait in the years to come. What must be determined is how that traffic can be managed in a way to minimize impacts to unique local environments and cultures encompassing some of the world׳s great concentrations of marine mammals and birds and thousands of coastal indigenous people, while realizing the economic benefits that trade and activity can bring, and whether new management regimes can be designed and implemented proactively rather than waiting for a disaster to happen first [18].