Ilulissat, Greenland (AP) — Fisherman Helgi Argil doesn’t know what’s going to happen. greenland In the fjords, he spends up to five days at a time on a boat with his dog Molly, watching the ever-changing Northern Lights in the sky.
Last year, his boat got stuck in ice that had broken off a nearby glacier. This year, on the contrary, there was a lot of rain. His income is similarly unpredictable. You could go out and get about 100,000 Danish kroner (about $15,700), or you might get nothing at all.
arctic rapidly changing climate Bringing more questions to Denmark’s semi-autonomous region of Greenland Upset by US President Donald Trump’s interest On owning it.
President Trump’s approach to Greenland is changing, but the world is failing to slow the effects of climate change. The Arctic is warming faster than any other region in the world due to the burning of oil, gas and coal.
What this means for the fishing industry, which is a big driver of Greenland’s economy, is unclear. Fishing accounts for up to 95% of exports, much of which goes to China, the region’s largest market along with the United States, Japan, and Europe.
disappearing sea ice
A fishing boat pulls a net loaded with fish in front of an iceberg in Disko Bay, near Ilulissat, Greenland, on January 29, 2026. (AP Video/Evgeny Maloletka)
Wrapped in a wool sweater in the freezing wind, Argil explained how to fish for halibut and cod. Other main catches are shrimp and snow crabs, which can be over 1 meter (3 feet) long, including the legs.
Traditional ice fishermen, who make up half of the local industry, are seeing the most dramatic changes in fishing methods.
“My father was fishing in sea ice that was 1.5 meters (about 5 feet) thick,” recalled Karl Sundgreen, director of the Icefjord Center, based in the town of Ilulissat and documenting climate change in the region.
Sundgreen said the sea ice began to disappear around 1997, and fishermen who used to drill holes in the ice to fish instead began fishing by boat. Boats allow fishermen to reach a wider area, but can come at additional cost and expense. Air pollution accelerates global warming.
Fishermen on a boat in Disko Bay, near Ilulissat, Greenland, January 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeny Maloletka)
Fishermen on a boat in Disko Bay, near Ilulissat, Greenland, January 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeny Maloletka)
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Fisheries have shaped Greenlandic communities. At the center of every town and village is a port where fishermen return to sell their catch. Before departure, some fishermen receive boxes from the island’s fishing company to pack their catch. In the capital Nuuk, the fish are transported by winch from the ship to the seafood factory.
Tork Binzer, chief executive of Royal Greenland, the island’s single largest employer, said he was increasingly worried about a future with significantly less sea ice. Traditional fishermen could then head to larger communities and join the ranks of commercial fishers.
The challenge now is how to support traditional fishermen when there is “too much ice to navigate and too little ice to sail,” Binzer said. Already, that unpredictability is causing “big” problems.
Binzer said Royal Greenland has already loaned fishermen money to buy boats and repaid them by selling their catch.
Fishermen at work in the port of Ilulissat, Greenland, January 29, 2026. (AP Video/Kwiyeon Ha)
Boris Worm, a marine biodiversity expert at Canada’s Dalhousie University, said while it might help the economy if everyone turned to boat fishing, it could lead to overfishing.
Binzer said there are already signs that halibut in Greenland are getting smaller and being overfished near the coast. Worm agreed, saying it’s a classic sign of overfishing, when big fish are caught and smaller, younger ones are left behind.
The problem could be exacerbated by receding ice, making it easier for fish to access. Warmer weather could boost fish stocks by bringing more rain and melting ice, which increases nutrients for the plankton that fish feed on, Wurm said.
But he cautioned that if the fish are no longer able to feed on the algae that grows under the sea ice, they may not behave as “predictably” as before, perhaps searching for new food sources.
There are few options other than fishing.
A fishing boat pulls a net loaded with fish in front of an iceberg in Disko Bay, near Ilulissat, Greenland, on January 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeny Maloletka)
A fishing boat pulls a net loaded with fish in front of an iceberg in Disko Bay, near Ilulissat, Greenland, on January 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeny Maloletka)
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Fisherman Helgi Aargill and his dog Molly sail on a boat near Nuuk, Greenland, on January 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeny Maloletka)
Fisherman Helgi Aargill and his dog Molly sail on a boat near Nuuk, Greenland, on January 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeny Maloletka)
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A fishing boat runs in front of an iceberg in Disko Bay near Ilulissat, Greenland, January 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeny Maloletka)
A fishing boat runs in front of an iceberg in Disko Bay near Ilulissat, Greenland, January 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeny Maloletka)
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On the boat near Nuuk, Argil had another challenge in mind. Warmer weather is causing some fish to dive deeper in search of cooler waters, making them harder to catch.
“It’s too warm,” he said, looking at the hills around the fjord. “We don’t know where the fish are going, but there aren’t that many.”
Greenland still has few options other than fishing. Although tourism is increasing, it is far from a significant part of the economy.
Tradition is also at the heart of concerns about climate change. Already, dog sledding is limited to land in the absence of sea ice.
Photo Gallery: Feeding for Survival
A fisherman catches halibut in Disko Bay, near Ilulissat, Greenland, on January 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeny Maloletka)
Fishermen unload boxes of fish from their boats in the port of Nuuk, Greenland, Jan. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeny Maloletka)
Fishermen unload boxes of fish from their boats in the port of Nuuk, Greenland, Jan. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeny Maloletka)
A Royal Greenland Seafood Company employee butchers halibut in Nuuk, Greenland, on January 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeny Maloletka)
A fisherman unloads a box of fish from a boat in the port of Nuuk, Greenland, on January 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeny Maloletka)
A Royal Greenland Fisheries Company employee transports cod in Nuuk, Greenland on January 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeny Maloletka)
A Royal Greenland Seafood Company employee places redfish on a conveyor belt in Nuuk, Greenland, on January 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeny Maloletka)
A fishing boat sails in front of an iceberg in Disko Bay near Ilulissat, Greenland, January 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeny Maloletka)
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“For many Greenlanders, being able to get out and sail is very important,” said Ken Jacobsen, Royal Greenland’s factory manager in Nuuk. Fishing is the most important thing.
In the capital alone, with a total population of just over 50,000 people, there are more than 1,000 boats moored in the harbor during the summer, he said.
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This story was supported by funding from the Walton Family Foundation. AP is solely responsible for all content.
