The Sys­sel­man­nen has deci­ded to ban moto­ri­sed traf­fic from the fjord ice in Tem­pel­fjord (inner Isfjord), Bil­lefjord (near Pyra­mi­den) and Rin­ders­buk­ta (in Van Mijenfjord). The ban is based on the assu­med dis­tur­ban­ce of wild­life by moto­ri­sed traf­fic. All of the­se places are popu­lar desti­na­ti­ons for snow mobi­le trips from Lon­gye­ar­by­en. Rin­ged seals need the fjord ice curr­ent­ly to give birth to their off­spring, and polar bears, which have been seen regu­lar­ly in recent times in all the­se places, have accor­din­gly an important hun­ting sea­son to build up fat reser­ves. The aut­ho­ri­ties assu­me that the total dis­tur­ban­ce by moto­ri­sed traf­fic is too much for the wild­life to car­ry on with their important respec­ti­ve busi­nesses.

Until 01 Juni – cove­ring the com­ple­te remai­ning win­ter sea­son – all moto­ri­zed traf­fic is ban­ned from the fjord ice in the­se are­as. The­re are excep­ti­ons on the shor­test safe rou­tes in Bil­lefjord from Nor­dens­ki­öld­breen to Pyra­mi­den, which is part of the regu­lar trip from Lon­gy­e­r­abyen to Pyra­mi­den, and in Tem­pel­fjord, making it pos­si­ble to cross the ice on the shor­test safe rou­te west of Kapp Schoultz to Kapp Mur­doch. Maps show­ing the details are available on the Sysselmannen’s web­site.

Non-moto­ri­sed traf­fic is not con­cer­ned.

In 2018, the fjord ice has deve­lo­ped bet­ter than in recent years. It is the first time in seve­ral years that Tem­pel­fjord can be crossed regu­lar­ly and safe­ly.

Appear­ent­ly wild­life is not much dis­tur­bed by careful, sen­si­ti­ve traf­fic by gui­ded groups or careful indi­vi­du­als. Ruthl­ess beha­viour of care­less indi­vi­du­als or groups is ano­ther mat­ter and hard to con­trol.

The Sys­sel­man­nen reminds the public that it is everybody’s indiv­du­al respon­si­bi­li­ty to assess the safe­ty of the ice for traf­fic.

Gla­cier front in Tem­pel­fjord: popu­lar desti­na­ti­on for excur­si­ons, but curr­ent­ly off limits for moto­ri­sed traf­fic.