New regulatory measures for salmon fisheries around the Faroe Islands and off west Greenland have been adopted by the North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organization (NASCO).
While the measure applying to the Faroes is a rollover of the previous zero-catches measures, the European Commission (EC) said that the agreement on a new regulatory measure for western Greenland was “particularly significant.” This is because the latter addresses several shortcomings in terms of control and monitoring of the catches and sets an annual total allowable catch (TAC) of 30 metric tons (MT) for the period 2018-2020.
Under the previous regulatory measure in place since 2015, no agreement could be reached on the TAC, and Denmark (in respect of the Faroe Islands and Greenland) had autonomously declared an annual quota of 45 MT.
The EC said that the new agreement illustrated a renewed willingness of all parties to improve cooperation toward the conservation of these salmon stocks and represented an important step to protect the especially endangered southern populations.
These new protection measures were agreed at NASCO’s 35th annual meeting, held in Portland, Maine, U.S.A.
NASCO parties also agreed to schedule activities toward the adoption of a new cycle of reporting on the implementation of the agreements. This move is aimed at ensuring transparency and the accountability of the parties in the application of the conservation measures in fisheries management, habitat protection and restoration, and aquaculture activities.
NASCO also held a special session to take stock of the ongoing preparation of the International Year of Salmon (IYS) in 2019. IYS is an initiative co-sponsored by NASCO and the North Pacific Anadromous Fisheries Commission (NPAFC) to create a hemispheric partnership to raise awareness about the challenges and threats facing salmon populations, to stimulate research and to forge concrete action.
North Atlantic and North Pacific ministers will participate in the official launch of the initiative in late October.
