Arctic nations to bar fishing fleets from fast-thawing seas around the north pole

Eight member states including US, Russia, Canada, Norway and Denmark sign accord to protect central Arctic Ocean from commercial fishing

The United States, Russia and other Arctic nations signed an agreement on Thursday to bar their fishing fleets from fast-thawing seas around the north pole.

The accord, also signed in Oslo by the ambassadors of Canada, Norway and Denmark, is a response to global warming, which is melting sea ice in the central Arctic Ocean, an area the size of the Mediterranean. The deal had been delayed by more than a year by tensions over Ukraine.