The Kitikmeot Inuit Association wants to see Inuit benefit from the “upside” of non-renewable resource development through a new corporation, called the Nunavut Resources Corp., reports Nunatsiaq News.

Yesterday, October 6, the United States officially joined an international initiative whose main objective is the creation of better, more accurate nautical maps for the Arctic region.

Representatives from Canada, Denmark, Norway, Russia and the United States set up a new Arctic Regional Hydrographic Commission on Oct. 6 in Ottawa to develop better nautical charts and improve safety in Arctic waters.

A proposal for strategic development of the Arctic will be handed over to the Russian Government in two weeks time, says Minister of Regional Development Viktor Basargin. The project will probably be approved by the end of the year.

The Joint Norwegian-Russian Fisheries Commission has decided to increase the quotas on all the main species in the Barents Sea.

The two state-controlled companies Gazprom and Rosneft have submitted 43 bids for offshore field licenses, among them to the Yuzhno-Russkoye field in the Barents Sea.