The fortieth meeting of the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organisation in Tallinn from 17 to 21 September enabled progress to be made on fish stock conservation measures, explained the European Commission on Wednesday 26 September.
The EU and the United States joined forces to obtain a ban on targeted fishing of Greenland sharks. The NAFO will now work on identifying the fishing areas where higher bycatch and discards take place, in preparation for new measures to be proposed by 2021.
The parties to this organisation foresee extended scientific monitoring of the impact on fish stocks and vulnerable marine ecosystems, not only of fisheries, but also of other industries such as oil exploration, shipping and recreational activities.
The parties also agreed on an Exceptional Circumstances Protocol for the harvest control rule for Greenland Halibut; and revision of the NAFO Observer Programme (to enhance the quality of NAFO’s data collection).
The Tallinn meeting set TACs (total admissible catches) for twelve different fish stocks (https://bit.ly/2OViWyj ) and agreed on new measure to increase the conformity of the EU fleet with NAFO rules both at sea and in port. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)