A vast swath of the Arctic would be closed to commercial fishing under a plan approved today by federal fisheries managers.

The North Pacific Fisheries Management Council voted unanimously in favor of barring industrial fishing in U.S. waters north of the Bering Strait, including the Chukchi and Beaufort seas. The plan would close about 150,000 square nautical miles -- an area larger than California and five times larger than all national parks combined.

While there is no significant commercial fishing in the area, the council drafted the plan to protect the Arctic as ice vanishes in the face of rising temperatures and fleets follow fish north.

Managers voted to close the area until scientific research determines whether it can support fishing.

The strategy has been hailed by environmentalists and Alaska's major fishing group, the Marine Conservation Alliance, which represents about 70 percent of the state's groundfish and crab industry. Audubon Alaska, Oceana and the Pew Environment Group also endorsed the plan.

"Climate change is having a significant effect on the Arctic, opening previously ice-covered waters and drawing cold water species further north," said Dave Benton, executive director of the Marine Conservation Alliance. "The council's action to close these waters as a precautionary measure gives us the opportunity to conduct the scientific review necessary to develop a plan for how sustainable fisheries might be conducted in the Arctic in the future."

Benton said he hopes the plan will pressure Russia and other Arctic nations to close their fisheries to protect fish stocks.

There are major fishing grounds south of the new protected area. Alaska's Bering Sea is the United States' "fish basket" -- about 60 percent of U.S. commercial landings come from its waters, according to the state fishing industry.

"This proactive decision by the council removes one source of additional stress, giving the Arctic, its peoples and animals a better chance to adapt to the changes," said Janis Searles Jones, vice president with the Ocean Conservancy.