这项成功的北极渔业条约让俄罗斯、中国、美国和其他国家合作了五年——它可以成为未来外交的典范。
This successful Arctic fishing treaty has kept Russia, …
As sea ice melts, more of the Arctic Ocean opens up. A former ambassador explains how this treaty creates time for scientists to figure out what lives there.
随着海冰融化，北极海洋的更多区域正在开放。一位前大使解释说，这项条约为科学家们研究那里生活着什么创造了时间。
Lately, much of the news about the Arctic has been bleak. The far north is warming three to four times faster than the rest of the planet. Arctic climate change – manifesting in sea ice loss, permafrost thaw and coastal erosion, among other phenomena – is already causing serious problems for Arctic residents, ecosystems and the rest of the planet.
最近，关于北极的许多新闻都令人沮丧。这个遥远的北方正在以比地球其他地区快三到四倍的速度变暖。北极气候变化——表现为海冰消退、永久冻土融化和海岸侵蚀等现象——已经给北极居民、生态系统乃至整个地球带来了严重问题。
At the diplomatic level, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 has had spillover effects in the Arctic, raising tensions and causing a breakdown in cooperation among the Arctic countries. The Trump administration’s interest in Greenland, along with its combative approach to NATO, has roiled relations among Arctic allies. The Arctic Council, established in 1996 to promote cooperation among the Arctic states, significantly scaled back its operations after the Russian invasion.
在外交层面，俄罗斯于 2022 年入侵乌克兰的行为对北极产生了溢出效应，加剧了紧张局势，并导致北极国家之间的合作瓦解。特朗普政府对格陵兰岛的兴趣，以及其对抗北约的态度，也扰乱了北极盟友之间的关系。北极理事会成立于 1996 年，旨在促进北极国家间的合作，但在俄罗斯入侵之后，大幅缩减了其运作规模。
But there is a bright spot. Five years ago, the United States, Russia and China joined six other nations and the European Union to bring into force a new treaty – the Central Arctic Ocean Fisheries Agreement – to keep commercial fishing out of the region, at least for now.
但也有光明的一面。五年前，美国、俄罗斯和中国与其他六个国家以及欧盟共同推动了一项新条约——《中央北冰洋渔业协定》的生效，目的是至少暂时阻止商业捕捞进入该地区。
The agreement’s moratorium on fishing remains in place today, and the parties to the treaty, including Russia, continue to work together to advance scientific understanding of the Arctic Ocean under the treaty, despite other tensions in the region.
该协议关于暂停捕鱼的禁令至今仍然有效，包括俄罗斯在内的条约各方，尽管该地区存在其他紧张局势，但仍继续合作推进对北极海洋的科学理解。
While serving in the U.S. State Department, I chaired the negotiations that produced this treaty. It’s useful to look at why this unusual pact came together, why it still works, and whether it could serve as a model for future diplomacy in the Arctic.
在我担任美国国务院职务期间，我主持了制定这项条约的谈判。研究为什么这一非同寻常的协议得以达成、它为何仍然有效，以及它是否可以为未来北极外交树立一个典范，是非常有益的。
The need for precaution
预防的必要性
At the heart of this treaty, and part of what can make it a good role model, is a tenet of modern international law known as the precautionary principle, or precautionary approach. In fact, it may be the best example of it that I’ve ever seen in international law.
这项条约的核心，也是使其成为良好典范的一部分，是现代国际法中的一项原则，即预防原则或审慎方法。事实上，它可能是我在国际法中见过的最好的例子。
In the context of managing international fisheries, this tenet calls upon governments to “be more cautious when information is uncertain, unreliable, or inadequate.” Unlike many treaties, including past fishing treaty failures, the countries agreed to take action in advance, before commercial fishing could become a problem.
在管理国际渔业的背景下，这一原则呼吁各国政府“在信息不确定、不可靠或不足时更加谨慎”。与许多条约（包括过去的捕鱼条约失败案例）不同，这些国家同意提前采取行动，以防商业捕捞成为问题。
Commercial fishing has never taken place in the Central Arctic Ocean. That’s because the area was completely covered by ice as far back as records exist, until recently. Today, as temperatures quickly rise in the Arctic and sea ice declines, a significant portion of the Central Arctic Ocean – the ocean’s international waters – is open water for part of each year.
商业捕捞从未发生在北极中央大洋。这是因为在有记录的年代以来，该地区一直被冰层完全覆盖，直到最近。今天，随着北极气温迅速上升和海冰消退，北极中央大洋——这片海洋国际水域——很大一部分区域每年都会成为开阔水域。
Nobody can say what effect commercial fishing might have on the ecosystem in this region, given the dearth of scientific knowledge about the Arctic Ocean.
鉴于对北极海洋缺乏科学知识，没有人能说出商业捕捞会对该地区的生态系统产生什么影响。
In the face of such uncertainty, this treaty – applying the precautionary approach – delays the start of commercial fishing until governments have adequate information to manage fishing sustainably. The treaty also sets up a research program to study and monitor the Central Arctic Ocean.
面对这种不确定性，该条约——应用了预防方法——推迟了商业捕捞的开始时间，直到各国政府拥有足够的信息来可持续地管理渔业。该条约还设立了一个研究计划，用于研究和监测北极中央大洋。
US leadership fostered international cooperation
美国领导力促进了国际合作
The origins of the agreement trace back to a bipartisan effort in the United States that may be difficult to imagine now. In 2008 Congress passed a joint resolution, signed by President George W. Bush, calling for a Central Arctic Ocean fisheries treaty.
该协议的起源可以追溯到美国一次跨党派的努力，这在今天看来可能令人难以想象。2008年，国会通过了一项联合决议，由乔治·W·布什总统签署，呼吁制定一项中央北极海洋渔业条约。
Under President Barack Obama the United States convened two sets of international negotiations. The first round aligned the views of the United States and the four other countries that have coastlines on the Central Arctic Ocean: Canada, the Kingdom of Denmark, Norway and Russia. Next, the negotiations expanded to include Iceland and others with large, distant-water fishing fleets: China, Japan, South Korea and the European Union.
在巴拉克·奥巴马总统任期内，美国召开了两轮国际谈判。第一轮使美国与另外四个拥有中央北极海洋海岸线的国家——加拿大、丹麦王国、挪威和俄罗斯——的观点达成一致。随后，谈判扩大到包括冰岛以及其他拥有大型远洋渔船的国家：中国、日本、韩国和欧盟。
The treaty is also one of the best examples of a binding international agreement that requires incorporating Indigenous knowledge and the involvement of Arctic Indigenous peoples in its implementation. I believe the negotiations would not have succeeded without the involvement of Indigenous and other nongovernmental experts and groups, including scientists, industry leaders and environmental organizations.
该条约也是结合原住民知识并在实施过程中吸纳北极原住民参与的最佳国际协议范例之一。我相信，如果没有原住民和其他非政府专家和团体的参与，包括科学家、行业领袖和环保组织，这些谈判就不会成功。
The resulting treaty entered into force in 2021. The United States signed and ratified the agreement during President Donald Trump’s first term.
最终形成的条约于2021年生效。美国在唐纳德·特朗普总统的第一任期内签署并批准了该协议。
Each country has something to gain from cooperation. For the United States, the agreement extends the successful model of fisheries management off Alaska to the high seas and helps limit foreign vessel activity in the region. For countries that don’t border the Arctic Ocean, such as China, Japan and South Korea, the treaty gives them international recognition as Arctic players. At the same time, the treaty doesn’t preclude future commercial fishing in the Central Arctic Ocean, but instead allows time to ensure any fishing there can be sustainable.
每个国家都能从合作中获益。对于美国而言，该协议将阿拉斯加以外的渔业管理成功的模式延伸到了公海，并有助于限制该地区外国船只的活动。对于不与北极海洋接壤的国家，例如中国、日本和韩国，该条约赋予了它们作为北极参与者的国际认可。同时，该条约并未排除中央北极海洋未来的商业捕鱼，而是为确保任何渔业活动都能可持续提供时间。
A rare venue with Russia
与俄罗斯共同举办的独特场合
The 10 parties to the treaty have met each year since 2022 to implement the agreement. They have advanced scientific research in this little-known part of our planet and are developing rules for very limited “exploratory fisheries” to study the migration of fish into the Central Arctic Ocean.
该条约的十个缔约方自2022年以来每年都会举行会议以执行协议。他们推进了对我们星球上这片鲜为人知区域的科学研究，并正在制定非常有限的“勘探性渔业”规则，以研究鱼类向中央北极海洋的迁移。
The fact that these meetings are taking place at all is an anomaly. In contrast to the Arctic Council, the conferences of the parties to this treaty have involved Russian experts each time, including during a meeting taking place June 16-17, 2026, in Brussels.
这些会议能够召开本身就是一个异常现象。与北极理事会不同的是，该条约缔约方的会议每次都邀请了俄罗斯专家参与，包括在2026年6月16日至17日于布鲁塞尔举行的会议期间。
Despite the geopolitical turmoil in the world, those working to implement the treaty have put aside their differences to pursue their common interests concerning the Central Arctic Ocean.
尽管世界地缘政治动荡不安，但致力于执行该条约的人们还是搁置了分歧，共同追求中央北极海洋的共同利益。
Looking ahead
展望未来
That willingness to set aside differences in pursuit of common interests can have many benefits.
为了追求共同利益而愿意搁置分歧，可以带来许多益处。
Even during the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union worked together on a wide range of issues, including a joint effort to spearhead the Antarctic Treaty, which has kept Antarctica demilitarized and facilitated scientific advancements at the Earth’s other pole.
即使在冷战期间，美国和苏联也在广泛的问题上进行合作，包括共同推动《南极条约》，该条约使南极保持非军事化，并促进了地球另一极的科学发展。
After the Cold War ended, the Arctic also became a region of exceptional East-West collaboration. Nations cooperated to protect the Arctic environment, to promote economic development, to bolster search-and-rescue capacity and to improve scientific understanding.
冷战结束后，北极也成为一个卓越的东西方合作区域。各国合作保护北极环境，促进经济发展，增强搜救能力并提高科学理解水平。
The current breakdown in cooperation with Russia is, on one level, entirely understandable, given the desire to maintain pressure on Russia to end the war in Ukraine. However, the Arctic Ocean is facing new challenges, with commercial shipping increasing as the ice melts and the rising potential for seabed mining, each of which poses unknown risks to its environment.
当前与俄罗斯合作的破裂，从某种程度上来说是完全可以理解的，考虑到希望对俄施压以结束乌克兰战争。然而，北冰洋正面临新的挑战：随着冰融化而增加的商业航运和日益增长的海底采矿潜力，这些都对其环境构成了未知风险。
I believe the Central Arctic Ocean Fisheries Agreement could serve as an inspiration, maybe even as a road map, for the path back to a cooperative, well-managed Arctic region, if countries follow its example.
我相信，如果各国效仿该协议的经验，《中央北冰洋渔业协定》可以为回归一个合作、管理良好的北极地区提供灵感，甚至是一份路线图。
David Balton receives funding from the Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center and from the Ocean Conservancy.
大卫·巴尔顿（David Balton）的资金来自哈佛大学肯尼迪学院的贝尔费中心和海洋保护协会。
