PAME is one of six Arctic Council working groups. PAME was first established under the 1991 Arctic Environmental Protection Strategy and was continued by the 1996 Ottawa Charter that established the Arctic Council.
PAME is the focal point of the Arctic Council’s activities related to the protection and sustainable use of the Arctic marine environment and provides a unique forum for collaboration on a wide range of activities in this regard.Ministerial deliverables are documents which PAME produced for each Ministerial Meetings. The Arctic Council Ministers can either approved, welcome or note the deliverables.
Deliverables are generally the main documents associated with each PAME project.
See Ministerial Deliverables.
The purpose of the PAME Work Plan is to provide a framework for PAME´s work related to the protection of the Arctic marine environment for every two year working period.
The PAME Work Plan includes information on all ongoing PAME projects and gives insight into activities ongoing at the given time.
PAME activities are governed by the Arctic Council Working Group Common Operating Guidelines.
The Operating Guidelines are to be read and used in conjunction with other documents, including the 1996 Ottawa Declaration establishing the Arctic Council, the AC Rules of Procedure (RoP), the AC Observer Manual for Subsidiary Bodies and other relevant documents of the AC.
PAME activities are guided by the Arctic Marine Strategic Plan and biennial Work Plans, which are developed by the PAME Working Group for approval by the Arctic Council Senior Arctic Officials.
The PAME logo is available for download here. The logo cannot be changed for use.
For more information contact the PAME Secretariat (pame@pame.is)
(From left to right): Dan Slavik, Jon L. Fuglestad, Stanislav Formin, Joclyn Paulic, Alf Håkon Hoel,
Tomomi Nomaki, Erik Olsen, Phil Mundy, Catherine Coon, Karoline Andaur, Takashi Kikuchi,
Hein Rune Skjoldal, Maryann Fidel and William Koeoppen (Photo: Bjarni Eiríksson / PAME)
The Protection of the Arctic Marine Environment Working Group (PAME), held its 4th Ecosystem Approach workshop in the beautiful city of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, 16-18 of June 2014. The subtitle of the workshop was; Integrated Ecosystem Assessment (IEA) – Understanding National Approaches and Reviewing Progress on IEA in Arctic LMEs straddling national boundaries: The Beaufort and Barents Seas.
Members of the PAME led Ecosystem Approach Expert Group included representatives from Canada, Norway, the United States, the Aleut International Association, AMAP and CAFF working groups, in addition to experts from a number of institutions, including the WWF and the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology. The workshop also received input via video link from experts who could enjoy the pleasantly of their home office and still make a valuable contribution to the workshop.
The three day workshop included sessions on;
The workshop report will soon be available on the PAME website (www.pame.is).
PAME has published a Concept Paper on Ecosystem Approach to Management of the Arctic marine ecosystems. This Paper defines the EA approach and identifies the framework for implementation of the EA in the Arctic and emphasizes the following main elements that can be seen as steps in an iterative implementation cycle: • Identify the ecosystem
• Describe the ecosystem
• Set ecological objectives
• Assess the ecosystem
• Value the ecosystem
• Manage human activities
Large Marine Ecosystems (LMEs) represent the appropriate and primary units for applying the ecosystem approach to management of the marine environment recognizing that it accommodates management at other spatial scales. The LMEs offer a framework for doing this in a structured manner from both scientific and management perspectives. The overall state and integrity of the ecosystem is a reflection of the status of species and habitats and their interactions at all appropriate scales within the LME.
Click here to view or download the Concept Paper from the PAME website.
Click here for more information about the ecosystem approach.