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Greenland Climate Fishing (Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)<\/p>\n
Greenlandic fisherman Helgi \u00c1argil faces an increasingly uncertain future on the fjords, where he spends days at sea with his dog, Molly, and the northern lights. Last year, his vessel was trapped by ice from a calving glacier; this year, unusually heavy rainfall has been the challenge. His livelihood is equally volatile, with a single trip potentially yielding 100,000 Danish kroner (\u00a311,500) or nothing at all.<\/p>\n
This unpredictability is a direct consequence of the Arctic’s rapidly accelerating climate change, a crisis that poses profound questions for Greenland. The semiautonomous Danish territory, which once drew global attention due to Donald Trump’s interest in acquiring it, now grapples with a warming rate faster than any other region, fuelled by fossil fuel emissions.<\/p>\n
The implications for Greenland’s economy, heavily reliant on its fishing industry, remain unclear. Fishing constitutes up to 95 per cent of the territory’s exports, primarily destined for China, the United States, Japan, and Europe, leaving its future precariously balanced.<\/p>\n
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A fishing boat rides in front of an iceberg at Disko Bay near Ilulissat, Greenland, on Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026. (AP Photo\/Evgeniy Maloletka) (Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)<\/p>\n
Wrapped in a wool sweater against the freezing wind, \u00c1argil explained how he fishes for halibut and cod. Other top catches are shrimp and snow crab, which including legs can reach more than a meter (3 feet) in length.<\/p>\n
Traditional ice fishermen<\/a> who make up half the local industry are seeing the most dramatic changes to the way they fish.<\/p>\n \u201cMy father was fishing from the sea ice” one and a half meters (almost 5 feet) thick, recalled Karl Sandgreen, head of the Icefjord Center that documents climate change in the region and is based in the town of Ilulissat.<\/p>\n That sea ice started disappearing around 1997, Sandgreen said, and fishermen who drilled through the ice to fish increasingly started to fish by boat instead. The use of boats allows fishermen to reach larger areas, but that can come with extra costs and pollution that that accelerates warming.<\/p>\n Fishing has shaped Greenland’s communities. The harbor where fishermen return to sell their catch is at the heart of every town or village. Before heading out, some fishermen pick up boxes from the island’s fishing companies to pack their catch which, in the capital of Nuuk<\/a>, is winched from the boat to the fish factory.<\/p>\n Toke Binzer, CEO of Royal Greenland, poses for photo at the harbor of Nuuk, Greenland, on Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026. (AP Photo\/Evgeniy Maloletka) (Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)<\/p>\n Toke Binzer, the chief executive of the island\u2019s single biggest employer, Royal Greenland, said he is increasingly worried about a future with greatly diminished sea ice. That could push traditional fishermen toward larger communities and into the ranks of commercial fishing.<\/p>\n The challenge now is how to support traditional fishermen when there is sometimes \u201ctoo much ice to sail, too little to go out on,” Binzer said. Already, that unpredictability has caused a \u201chuge\u201d problem.<\/p>\n Royal Greenland already loans fishermen money to buy a boat, which they repay from selling their catch, Binzer said.<\/p>\n If everyone turns to fishing from boats, that could help economically but lead to overfishing, said Boris Worm, an expert in marine biodiversity at Dalhousie University in Canada<\/a>.<\/p>\n In Greenland, there are already signs of too much fishing close to shore as halibut are getting smaller, Binzer said. Worm agreed, calling it a classic sign of overfishing as the bigger fish are caught and the smaller, younger ones are left.<\/p>\n That problem could worsen as the retreating ice makes fish more accessible. Fish stocks could rise as the warmer weather causes increased rain and melting ice to bring more nutrients for plankton, which the fish feed on, Worm said.<\/p>\n He warned, however, that the fish may not behave as \u201cpredictably,\u201d as in the past, perhaps by seeking new food sources if they can no longer feed on the algae which grows under the sea ice.<\/p>\n A worker at Royal Greenland seafood company carries cod in Nuuk, Greenland, on Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2026. (AP Photo\/Evgeniy Maloletka) (Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)<\/p>\n![\"Toke](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/4e63edc629435e371f684bd9680715a5.jpeg\"\/)
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