Canadian researchers say fish catches in the Arctic have been dramatically under-reported over the past six decades.
Basing their estimates on previously unavailable data, scientists at the University of British Columbia say the amount of fish caught was almost 75 times higher than previously reported.
They now estimate that 950,000 tonnes of fish were caught in Russian, Canadian and US Arctic waters between 1950 - 2006.
Results of the study were published this week in the journal Polar Biology.
The researchers estimate that 89,000 tonnes of fish were caught in Alaskan coastal waters in the Arctic between 1950 - 2006, and 94,000 tonnes in Canadian waters, but neither Canada nor the United States supplied that data to the UN.
An estimated 770,000 tonnes of fish were caught in Russian waters off Siberia, far more than the 12,700 tonnes reported by the UN.
The university issued a study in December warning that global fleets were running out of fishing grounds and the waters of the Arctic and Antarctic were among the few areas remaining for exploitation.
