Why America should embrace marine mammal diplomacy for the Arctic
September 9, 2026
The United States can help secure its strategic future in the Arctic by lifting its import bans on marine mammal products like seal fur and whale meat to support the Arctic’s traditional economies. This could be particularly advantageous to America’s ambitious diplomatic engagement with Greenland, and to its long strategic partnership with Canada.
True security in the Arctic requires a deep partnership with the people who live there. To win the long-term trust of the Inuit, the United States must move beyond military agreements and offer a meaningful economic partnership. The most effective way of doing this is to open the U.S. market to the Arctic’s traditional, sustainable marine mammal products: seal fur and whale meat.
Harsh economic reality
For centuries, the Inuit have relied on the sea for survival. Sealing and whaling were not, strictly speaking, commercial endeavors; they were the foundation of Inuit culture, food security, and local economies.
In remote settlements along the vast Arctic coast, alternative economic opportunities were practically nonexistent. Hunting marine mammals provided vital protein and generated local income through the sale of skins and meat.
In Greenland, the management of these resources is highly regulated, scientifically monitored, and strictly sustainable. The government sets conservative quotas based on rigorous environmental assessments to ensure that wildlife populations remain stable and healthy. Hunting methods are deeply rooted in traditional ecological knowledge, prioritizing respect for the animal and minimizing waste. The same is true across Baffin Bay in the Canadian Arctic.
Despite this sustainable model, the traditional Inuit economy continues to face severe challenges due to sweeping Western trade restrictions.
For decades, well-meaning but misguided Western environmental campaigns have devastated Arctic communities. The U.S. Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) imposes a blanket ban on the import of all marine mammal products into the United States. Similarly, the European Union’s bans on seal products have crippled the global market for pelts.
These policies were designed to target large-scale, industrial commercial exploitation. Instead, they caught Indigenous subsistence hunters in the crossfire. By destroying the export market for seal skins, Western nations inadvertently hollowed out the economies of small Arctic villages. This created widespread economic distress and a deep sense of cultural alienation among Inuit, who felt judged and penalized by distant Western capitals.
Marine mammal diplomacy
While the West kept its marine mammal markets closed, America’s competitors kept looking for ways of gaining influence in the Arctic. I have long urged America to step up its game in “marine mammal diplomacy” — the idea being that eastern actors could exploit Western environmental rigidity to build new alliances with Arctic peoples.
For instance, China has repeatedly attempted to finance airport expansions, mining projects, and research stations across Greenland. Beijing presents itself as an economic partner willing to invest without lecturing Greenlanders on their cultural traditions.
If the U.S. and its European allies continue to isolate Greenland economically, Nuuk may eventually find the promise of non-Western investment too lucrative to turn down. Similarly, as tensions rise between Waahington and Ottawa, China once again stands to benefit.
But keeping Chinese state-owned enterprises away from critical infrastructure requires more than diplomatic pressure. The U.S. must prove that alignment with the West delivers tangible, everyday economic benefits to ordinary Arctic citizens.
A framework for a targeted U.S. market
Opening the United States to seal fur and whale meat would not require the country to abandon its commitment to marine conservation. Instead, Washington could create a strictly regulated, bilateral trade framework tailored specifically to Greenland and Canada. The following actions would be a good start:
Amending the MMPA: Congress could introduce a specific, narrow exemption to the Marine Mammal Protection Act for certified, sustainably harvested products originating from Greenland and Canada.
A certified origin system: The U.S., Greenland and Canada could create a strict certification system. Every seal pelt or unit of meat exported to the U.S. would carry verification proving it was harvested under Greenland’s official, science-based quotas by licensed hunters and Canada’s collaborative co-management systems wedding Indigenous knowledge and western science.
Strict anti-commercialization guards: The exemption would apply to both Greenland’s regulated, small-scale hunters and Canada’s indigenous subsistence hunters. This would prevent the revival of unregulated, large-scale industrial sealing or whaling by other nations.
By taking these steps, the U.S. could create a highly controlled niche market that honors conservation while providing a massive boost to remote coastal communities in Greenland and Canada.
Alliance of the whaling
U.S. national security leaders could frame this policy change as a geopolitical necessity. The long-term strategic cost of losing influence in the Arctic far outweighs the political discomfort of updating domestic conservation laws.
Moreover, by taking the lead on this vital economic front, the United States could forge a powerful new coalition with its traditional maritime and whaling allies — Norway, Iceland and Japan. These nations share a deep-seated cultural understanding of sustainable whale harvesting and possess the existing infrastructure, processing capabilities, and consumer markets necessary to sustain a global trade network.
Together, under American leadership, this “alliance of the whaling” could dismantle the restrictive trade barriers of the past, outmaneuver our authoritarian rivals, and build an unshakeable, prosperous future that permanently secures the hearts, minds, and borders of Arctic North America.
Winning hearts, minds — and markets
Opening American doors to traditional Inuit exports would be a massive diplomatic victory. It would send a powerful signal to Nuuk and Ottawa that the U.S. respects the sovereignty, culture, and economic self-determination of its Arctic North American allies.
The economic impact on the U.S. market might be small, but the positive impact on Greenlandic and Canadian Arctic communities would be transformative. It would revitalize local economies, restore dignity to traditional hunters, and build immense goodwill toward the United States and its fellow whaling nations.
Any opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Arctic Today.
Barry Scott Zellen is a Research Scholar in the Department of Geography at the University of Connecticut and a Senior Fellow (Arctic Security) at the Institute of the North. He is the author of “Arctic Exceptionalism: Cooperation in a Contested World.”
