Activities

NAFO activities take place under the direction of its 3 constituent bodies, General Council, Scientific Council, and Fisheries Commission, supported and coordinated by the Secretariat. The NAFO Annual Report summarizes the discussions and decisions. The meeting schedule is accessible on the web.

The amended convention adopted in 2007 merges the General Council and Fisheries Commission into the Commission. The ratification of these amendments is still in progress.

Fisheries:

• Fisheries Commission: The NAFO Fisheries Commission (FC) has its prinicpal meeting once a year, usually in September. At times, FC and/or its subsidary body (STACTIC) will meet intersessionally. Meeting Reports are public and accessible on this website.
• Fishery Regulations: Once a year NAFO Fisheries Commission agrees on Conservation and Enforcement Measures (CEM) that include a number of management and control regulations, a monitoring scheme, as well as inspection and surveillance measures.
• Compliance: Since 2004 NAFO publishes a compliance report. Enforcement of the NAFO Fishery Regulations lies under national responsibility.
• The NAFO fisheries: Summary overviews of fishery activities in the NAFO Regulatory Area can be found on our Fisheries pages. NAFO holds statistical data on fishery catches by species, area and nation since the sixties.

Science:

• Scientific advice: Scientific Council's main task is the elaboration of the scientific advice to Fisheries Commission and Coastal States with regard to the status of fish stocks in the NAFO Convention Area. For this assessment scientists from different NAFO Member States cooperate in the sampling, analyses and summary of relevant data. During the Scientific Council Meetings this information is presented and discussed within the different Standing Committees. The SC Meeting Reports are public and accessible on this website.
• Scientific Council publications: NAFO publishes peer-reviewed papers in its "Journal of Northwest Fishery Science" on its own website. Additional scientific papers of general interest are published in the "Scientific Council Studies".
  
• Scientific events: NAFO organizes and sponsors symposia and workshops on subjects of special interest. Most recently, NAFO hosted the Elasmobranch Symposium (2002), a mini-Symposium on Environmental Conditions in NAFO Waters (2003), a Geostatistics Workshop (2003), a Symposium on the Flemish Cap Ecosystem (2004) and a Symposium on Environmental and Marine Resources Histories (Sep, 2006). In 2007 NAFO, PICES and ICES held a joint symposium on "Reproductive and Recruitment Processes of Exploited Marine Fish Stocks" and in 2008 NAFO/ICES Symposium on "The Role of Marine Mammals in the 21st Century". In 2009 NAFO is co-sponsoring a Symposium "Rebuilding Depleted Fish Stocks - Biology, Ecology, Social Science and Management Strategies".

Cooperation with other international Fishery Bodies:

• NAFO is an active member of
  • CWP (Coordinating Working Party of Fisheries Statistics)
  • Fishery Resources Monitoring System (FIRMS/FIGIS)
  • ASFA (Aquatic Sciences and Fisheries Abstracts)
  • International Fisheries Commissions Pension Society (IFCPS)
  • North Atlantic Fishery Management Organizations (NARFMO)
    
    

  In addition, NAFO has an MoU with the International Council for the Exploration of the Seas (ICES). The cooperation with ICES is reflected in a joint shrimp stock assessment (NIPAG) and the shared Working Groups on "Harp and Hooded Seals", on "Reproductive Potential" and "Deepwater Ecology".