The Northwest Atlantic Fishing Organization (NAFO), an intergovernmental fisheries science and management body, was founded in 1979 as a successor to the International Commission for the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries.
NAFO’s 1979 Convention on “Future Multilateral Cooperation in the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries” was created after a number of coastal States introduced a national exclusive 200 mile economic zone. The NAFO Convention reflects the effort to continue the international cooperation in these waters and maintain the compatibility of conservation and management measures between the coastal and the international areas while respecting the exclusive rights of the coastal states.
NAFO has twelve member countries from North America, Europe, the Caribbean and Asia.
NAFO’s objectives were recently updated to include an ecosystem approach to fisheries management, expanding from maintaining a sustainable fishery to protecting the associated marine ecosystem from adverse fisheries effects. The convention does not apply to salmon, tunas/marlins and mammals as these are already under the responsibility of other intergovernmental regional fisheries management bodies. It also does not apply to sedentary species such as many shellfish over which coastal States exercise rights.
NOTE: This is largely a fisheries based effort, though the Northwest Atlantic Fishing Organization Convention Amendment does promote an ecosystem approach.
Mission
The primary mission of the Northwest Atlantic Fishing Organization (NAFO) has been to contribute through consultation and cooperation to the optimum utilization, rational management and conservation of the fishery resources of the Convention Area. NAFO aims to promote contemporary ideas for international collaboration in the high seas based on the scientific research fundamentals.
Objectives
NAFO’s objectives were recently updated to include an ecosystem approach to fisheries management. The Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) explains the new approach:
“NAFO is committed to an ecosystem approach to fisheries management. NAFO’s management includes provisions that minimize the harmful impact of fishing activities on living marine resources and marine ecosystems, and requirements that preserve marine bio-diversity. Its work protecting sensitive deepwater habitats such as seamounts and corals is one example of this. Supporting scientific research and advice is a major part of NAFO’s mandate.”
Lead Organizations
Key Parties
NAFO Convention Area and the Regulatory Area
The NAFO Convention Area encompasses a large portion of the North Atlantic Ocean and includes the 200-mile exclusive economic zones of coastal states. However, regulatory action by NAFO is limited to those parts of the Convention Area beyond areas of national jurisdiction. This is called the Regulatory Area.
Constituent Bodies
The constituent bodies of NAFO are the General Council, Scientific Council, Fisheries Commission, and the Secretariat, whose specific functions are set out in the Convention, Rules of Procedure and the Staff Rules.
In the early 1990s, the collapse and closure of the cod fishery drew attention to overfishing in the Grand Banks area. This ecological circumstance paired with the declaration of exclusive economic zones (EEZs) made for conflicting claims on an already dwindling resource.
Consequently the Convention on Future Multilateral Cooperation in the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries, came into force on January 1, 1979 following the ratification, acceptance and approval by seven signatories: Canada, Cuba, the European Economic Community, German Democratic Republic, Iceland, Norway, and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.
This Convention established the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO) and replaced the 1949 International Convention for the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries and the International Commission for the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries.
The Ecosystem
Located on a shallow continental shelf, the Grand Banks receive a rich supply of nutrients and oxygen in the cold Labrador current. This area contains one of the largest fish stocks of the Atlantic Ocean, and fleets from all over the world have been fishing here regularly for centuries.
Threats
Based on scientific advice, the Northwest Atlantic Fishing Organization (NAFO) adopts a comprehensive range of management and conservation measures.
Harvest Regulations
The NAFO Fisheries Commission meets once a year to adopt Conservation and Enforcement Measures (CEM) for the international fisheries. Such measures include setting limits for total allowable catches (TACs) and quotas (the share of the TAC that each member State is allowed to fish) for each stock. While the annually changing TACs and quotas (including moratoria) as listed in the NAFO quota table are among the most prominent management measures to regulate fisheries, there are a number of other measures that can also play and important role to protect fishery resources and their environment. As a precautionary measure in the context of an Ecosystem Approach, NAFO has closed six possible vulnerable marine ecosystems to bottom fisheries (five seamounts and a large coral area along the southern Grand Banks).
Other NAFO management measures include bycatch and gear restrictions, minimum fish size regulations as well as area and time limitations.
Resource Assessment
To track stock status, NAFO tracks habitat and biology, geographic distribution, exploitation (catch versus total allowed catch), assessment (recruitment, biomass, mortality data and models), biological state and trend, management advice, and data sources for a number of commercially harvested species. Species assessed:
Monitoring
To ensure that its conservation measures are followed, NAFO has developed a comprehensive set of regulations to monitor, survey and control the fisheries. Some of these measures are:
Summary
Scientists from NAFO member States contribute to the assessment of fish and ecosystems in the NAFO Convention Area by conducting scientific surveys and evaluating other relevant information. The NAFO Scientific Council meets several times each year to discuss its findings, coordinate its research activities and prepare scientific advice for the Fisheries Commission and Coastal States.
The information used by the NAFO scientists includes but is not limited to catch statistics from NAFO Contracting parties as well as data gathered on commercial and research vessels and in landing ports.
According to Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) NAFO has:
As a result, the compliance of fishing vessels with NAFO regulations has visibly increased, illegal, unreported and uncontrolled (IUU) fishing has decreased, and some fish stocks are already showing signs of recovery. However, in spite of the modern approaches to fisheries management, the abundance of many traditional NAFO fish stocks continues to be low, an indication that the rebuilding process will take time.
Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization. http://www.nafo.int/about/frames/about.html
Fisheries and Oceans Canada. NAFO: http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/international/media/bk_nafo-opano-eng.htm