NAFO commitment to reform has potential to protect Grand Banks fish stocks – WWF-Canada

NAFO consists of 13 countries pursuing commercial fisheries on the high seas and as well as those straddling Canada’s 200-mile limit in the region of the Grand Banks of Newfoundland off Canada’s Atlantic coast. NAFO sets total allowable catch limits and other measures for the fish stocks it manages and allocates quotas to its members.

“This is the first time we have seen a commitment by NAFO nations to make reforms that could help to restore and recover the Grand Bank ecosystem,” said Dr. Robert Rangeley, Atlantic Marine Program Director, WWF-Canada. “Many of the measures committed to today were identified as necessary in our report Bycatch on the High Seas: A Review of the Effectiveness of the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization released earlier this week and, if implemented, could go a long way to solving bycatch and other threats.”

The WWF-Canada report documented the devastating impact that indiscriminate fishing and bad international fisheries management are having on many species, including cod. “Bycatch” is the name for the marine species incidentally caught in fishing gear intended for other species. It includes not only fish that are not supposed to be caught, such as cod, but other fish species, corals, turtles, seabirds and even whales and dolphins. Species that are caught but are not commercially valuable are thrown overboard, dead. A percentage of those that are commercially valuable are kept and sold.

The commitments announced today, which had been called for by the Canadian government, include reforming NAFO and strengthening the decision-making process. Canada will host a working group in April of 2006 which will look at implementing an ecosystem-based approach to fisheries management, dispute resolution, and changing the objection procedure. Another working group will focus on strengthening enforcement through improved vessel monitoring, inspections both at-sea and in-port, and sanctions for rule breakers.

“While many positive steps appear to have come out of the meetings, there was little movement on protecting sensitive areas. A commitment to ‘develop guidelines for gathering data on seamounts’ clearly does not go far enough. These and other sensitive areas must immediately be identified and protected in order to rebuild decimated stocks,” said Rangeley.

“These decisions are an important step forward in protecting fish stocks on the Grand Banks, but this new found commitment to reform must result in real change in how NAFO conducts itself,” concluded Josh Laughren, Director, Marine Conservation Program, WWF-Canada. “We must see significant reforms agreed to and implemented at the next NAFO meeting a year from now if there is to be any hope of bringing back the Grand Banks ecosystem. We cannot afford a five year discussion on protection.”