Opening Statement by the Ecology Action Centre
The Ecology Action Centre (EAC) thanks the Chair and NAFO Secretariat for their efforts to organize this virtual 43rdAnnual Meeting of NAFO. We appreciate the opportunity to participate as observers in the deliberations and share our perspectives and we note the continuing difficult circumstances all participants are working under.
NAFO’s Scientific Council (SC) continues to undertake ground breaking work on the development of ecosystem approaches to fisheries management. We are pleased the Commission has agreed to move forward with the upcoming Open Dialogue and subsequent WG EAFFM Workshop to undertake discussion on how to further integrate ecosystem information into management decisions.
- We urge all Parties to participate fully in the upcoming Dialogue and Workshop with an eye to identify ecosystem level objectives for management and to ensure observer access to participate
- We also look to the Commission to support an external independent review of the Roadmap that istimely so as not to not hinder progress towards implementation of the ecosystem approach to management
The SC has also done extensive work to advise on the best available options to improve VME protection and fulfill NAFO’s commitment to UNGA Resolution 61/105 while limiting potential loses to fishing fleets. If their recommendations on closures are adopted, no VME’s would be classified as having ‘Poor’ protection with most moving to ‘Good’ and only one remaining ‘Limited’ while less than 1% of fishing activity would be impacted.
- We urge adoption of recommended VME new closures, additions, and modifications and would commend NAFO on fulfilling UNGA Res 61/105
We are concerned that planned work to consider additional conservation measures for Greenland sharks was slowed, not only due to restricted workloads in virtual settings over the last two years, but because NAFO Parties have largely failed to report thorough and timely bycatch data as well as their mortality reduction efforts as required by the current NCEM. The SC has highlighted the extreme longevity and low fecundity of this intriguing species and has noted the need to protect it across its large geographic range and reiterated the recommendation that no retention be allowed.
- We encourage the adoption of no retention for Greenland shark and continued work to standardize and improve data collection from across the NCA as well as the identification of bycatch hotspots
- We also ask Parties to fulfill their requirement to report on mortality reduction efforts and to consider the SC advice that management of Greenland shark be consistent across its range
We note with concern the assessment of 3M Northern Shrimp that indicates the stock is again below Blim. The stock was opened with only slim indications of improvement and under an effort-regulation scheme, yet at this point with only 16% of effort expended the SC advised catch level has already been exceeded.
- We look to the Commission to act swiftly to close the fishery on 3M Northern Shrimp for 2022 and focus on work towards a TAC and quota allocation scheme before considering any reopening
Finally, we note the workload and complexity of the analyses requested of the Scientific Council continue to outstrip their resources and time available. This undermines the ability of NAFO to ensure comprehensive and credible management in the Convention Area.
- We look to Parties to carefully consider all requests to SC and provide the necessary funding, resources, and expertise to support their work
We thank you for your consideration of our positions and look forward to this week’s discussions and deliberations.