RENEWABLE RESOURCES 
Even as the whalers plied the seas, hunters and trappers 
were invading the lands to exploit the fur-bearing animals. 
Much of the early explorations of the coastal and interior 
regions resulted from the strenuous activities of the hunters 
and trappers. ‘Though the renewable resources of the fur- 
bearing animals have been greatly diminished, they still pro- 
vide an important item in the economy of the northlands. 
Fishing has long since replaced whaling as the major 
harvest of north polar seas. All lands that border Arctic 
and sub-Arctic waters depend upon fishing as an important 
item in their economy. Norway is third in all the world in 
the production of fish. Canada, the Soviet Union, Green- 
land, and Iceland are important producers, and Alaska pro- 
vides one-seventh of all the fish consumed in the United 
States. 
Agriculture is limited to a few areas, but is slowly creep- 
ing northward. Part of this northward trend is due to the 
development of new strains of crops more resistant to cold 
and part may be due to a gradual warming of the climate. 
Fields are being cultivated in Greenland today that the 
Norsemen or their descendents cultivated five centuries ago. 
‘Though grazing lands are limited, A. E. Porsild says the 
physical basis for the reindeer industry is tremendous. He 
states that the best lichen forest grazing areas would sup- 
port sixteen reindeer per square mile. At best, however, if 
the North Polar Lands are to play a much larger economic 
role in the commerce of the world, it will be on some other 
bases of northward movement and settlement than agricul- 
ture and animal husbandry. 
The greatest single renewable resource of the North 
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