NAFO Opening Statement 2021

Date Published

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. 

 

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