POTENTIALS FOR THE PROTECTION OF PIKIALASORSUAQ IN THE SHADOW OF CONTEMPORARY MARITIME INDUSTRIES
POTENTIALS FOR THE PROTECTION OF PIKIALASORSUAQ IN THE SHADOW OF CONTEMPORARY MARITIME INDUSTRIES

Summary/Abstract: The Pikialasorsuaq or North Water Polynya is a polynya that lies between Greenland and Canada in northern Baffin Bay. For centuries, small scale family-based markets had been developed between the Inuit on the two sides of the bay based on crossborder transportation. However, the emerged modern maritime industries have posed serious challenges for the polynya, where the free cross-border transportation is nowadays banned, and the environmental threat has become a reality deteriorated further by climate change. Indigenous participation and Free Prior and Informed Consent are crucial for the conservation of the polynya. Accordingly, this article was designed as a descriptive study of the current situation in Pikialasorsuaq, providing the legal framework for the protection of the region and highlighting the existing system’s shortcomings.

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