The Bering Sea: Ports and Safety Presentation at the Alaskan Arctic: A Summit on Shipping and Ports

1. The Arctic Waterways Safety Plan
Willie Goodwin – Chair, Arctic Waterways Safety Committee
Martin Robards

2. • Note Sea ice elsewhere
• Subsistence
THE CONTEXT FOR DEVELOPING SAFE
PRACTICES IN ARCTIC WATERS
Photo: Peak 3/AEWC
Understanding who utilizes Arctic
waters and why:
• Local Communities
• Industrial and Economic
Development

3. LOCAL COMMUNITIES
– Social Systems Built Around Environmental Systems
– Subsistence Hunting Culture
• Food Security
• Survival Through Adaptation

4. DEVELOPMENT
INTERESTS
• Environmental Concerns Are Not
Primary Motivation
• Motivated by the Need for Business To
Succeed
• Able To Adapt To Promote Succes
• Critical for Local Employment

5. CONFLICT BRINGS
DIVERSE INTERESTS
TOGETHER

6. STAKEHOLDER
ENGAGEMENT = RATIONAL
PROBLEM SOLVING
• Subsistence Communities Need
Resources To Remain Available
– MMPA §101(a)(5)(A), (D): “no unmitigable
adverse impact to the availability” of
subsistence resources
• Local Residents Need Jobs
• Developers Need To Earn Profit

7. RATIONAL PROBLEM SOLVING =>
SHARED OPPORTUNITY
• Red Dog Mine: Scheduled Trucking Around Caribou
Migration
• Conflict Avoidance Agreement: Scheduled Oil and Gas
Work Around Marine Mammal Migrations/Hunting
• Arctic Waterways Safety Committee: Identifying Safe
Marine Practices To Benefit All Mariners

8. SUCCESSFUL STAKEHOLDERS
LISTEN AND LEARN
• Value Local Knowledge/Experience
• Value Peer-Reviewed Science
• Respect the Needs and Concerns of Local Communities
• Respect the Operational Needs of Those Who Bring
Economic Opportunity

9. A Place in Rapid ChangeNew Visitors to the
Arctic & New Risks

10. History of AMMC and AWSC
• March 2012 Anchorage AMMC
• August 2014 Anchorage AWSC
• November 2014 Juneau AWSC
• February 2015 Juneau AWSC
• June 2015 Anchorage AWSC

12. AWSC AREA OF
INTEREST

13. Standards of Care
• Procedures and practices, beyond regulatory
requirements, that experienced and prudent
maritime professionals follow to ensure safe,
secure, efficient and environmentally
responsible maritime operations;
• ... are “good marine practices” that are
developed and published to provide a guide
for maritime professionals to consider and
incorporate into their decision making process

14. Arctic Waterways Safety Plan
and the Polar Code
• Within the Polar Code, vessel captains are
required to: “minimize threats to marine
mammals and indigenous subsistence hunters
by avoiding no-go areas.”

15. WISE POLICY-MAKERS LISTEN TO
SUCCESSFUL STAKEHOLDERS
• Let Those Experiencing a Conflict Work Through to the
Resolution
• Stakeholders Will Always Know More Than Policy-
Makers About Their Needs
• The Arctic Is Changing Rapidly: Be Fast To Adopt
Adaptive Approaches, Slow to Regulate