NEAFC AGREES MANAGEMENT MEASURES

NEAFC agrees management measures. The North-East Atlantic Fisheries Commission (NEAFC) gathered for its annual meeting in London from 13 to 16 November 2018. During the meeting, the EU and the other contracting parties agreed on a number of conservation and management measures for 2019, covering several fish stocks (including blue whiting, Atlanto-Scandian herring, mackerel, redfish in the Irminger Sea, spurdog and Rockall haddock).

The Delegations also agreed on a number of control and enforcement measures, in particular the adoption of the Electronic Reporting System (ERS) – a state of the art system for reporting catches, based on the EU standard. The ERS will offer detailed ‘live’ information of fishing activities to fisheries inspectors. Exchanging information between NEAFC and other Regional Fisheries Management Organisations (RFMOs) has been simplified. The EU confirmed its readiness to be the first Contracting Party to implement the new system as of 2019. All other Contracting Parties will follow within 2 years.

NEAFC also launched its standard recurring advice request to International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) for 2019. The Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic (OSPAR) and NEAFC submitted a joint advice to ICES to generate species distribution maps for listed deep sea shark species and provide scientific support for ICES on bycatch management options.

Moreover, NEAFC Commission agreed on a statement to welcome the conclusion of the Agreement to prevent unregulated High Seas Fisheries in the Central Arctic Ocean – an international agreement, which the EU was instrumental in concluding.