Brussels, 01/10/2007 (Agence Europe) - The North West Atlantic Fisheries Organisation (NAFO) meeting on the protection of fishery resources ended on 28 September.
NAFO firstly adopted a new convention, which will simplify the adoption by stakeholders of ambitious measures (legally binding) for fishery resources.
Members of this regional fisheries organisation decided to bolster the recovery plan (set up in 2003) for Greenland turbot. All boats planning to fish turbot in the NAFO regulated zone will now have to indicate the date and time of entry into the fishing zone because they are obliged to declare the quantity of fish on board. Boats fishing for turbot will also have to declare their catches more often than is currently the case. NAFO inspectors will subsequently follow developments in catches according to authorised quotas.
NAFO also decided to implement a cod recovery plan in the south of the “great banks” (whole of underwater plateaux in the south east of Newfoundland and the North American continental shelf) in the aim of reducing accidental catches of this species by 40% (EUROPE 9509 at the request of the WWF, which has therefore been heard).
In compliance with the resolution on sustainable fishing adopted in 2006 by the general assembly of the United Nations, NAFO adopted provisions to protect deep and cold water coral. According to the Canadian fisheries minister, these provisions include the immediate closure (for five years) of a coral protection zone to all fishing gear coming into contact with sea beds of between 800-2,000 metres in the 30 NAFO divisions on the great banks off the south east coast of Newfoundland and Labrador. NAFO will be meeting in May 2008 to discuss other sensitive ocean protection zone measures. (lc)