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

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 of two sides based on cross-border 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