North East Atlantic Fisheries Commission

NEAFC can be traced back to between the world wars. In the 1930s, several conferences were held to address the issue of rational exploitation of fish resources, but attempts to organise an international agreement were interrupted by the Second World War. In 1946, the UK organised an International Conference on Overfishing, which resulted in establishing a Permanent Commission.

This Commission, founded in 1953, was the forerunner of NEAFC. Its first meeting was attended by delegations from twelve Contracting Parties and dealt mainly with minimum fish size and the use of various fishing gear. In 1955 the Commission set up an ad hoc Scientific Committee to look into issues being discussed and to seek advice from the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES).

During its first years of operation, it was apparent that the measures it could establish were insufficient to give stocks adequate protection. Between1954 and 1958 several informal discussions took place to consider new types of international regulation. In 1959, a conference resulted in the North-East Atlantic Fisheries Convention, which entered into force in 1963. The NorthEast Atlantic Fisheries Commission, which was formed under this Convention, succeeded the Permanent Commission. The new Commission had been given additional power and was able to establish stricter conservation and management measures.

NEAFC formed the framework for international co-operation in the area of fisheries regulation beyond national fishing limits. Its main purpose was to recommend measures to maintain the rational exploitation of fish stocks in the Convention Area, taking scientific advice from ICES. In 1967 NEAFC established a Scheme of Joint Enforcement which contained rules for mutual inspection and control outside national fishery jurisdiction. Although all decisions regarding judicial processes were the responsibility of the flag state, this Scheme was considered a significant achievement.

In 1969 the Commission recommended a full ban on salmon fisheries outside national limits. It also agreed to enforce a closed season for the North Sea herring fishery from 1971. In 1975 a recommendation to ban directed industrial fishery for North Sea herring was agreed.

During this period, the Commission's powers increased as it was allowed to set total allowable catch limits (TACs) and effort limitations, including the allocation of quotas. The first quota recommendation was on North Sea herring in 1974 and, the year after, NEAFC recommended total allowable catch and quota allocations for fifteen stocks. By the end of 1976 NEAFC was aware that developments taking place after the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea would result in the extension of fishing limits to 200 miles. In 1977 when the coastal states in the North Atlantic declared 200 miles jurisdiction off their coasts, most of the area of those stocks regulated by NEAFC became national zones. The management of joint stocks became a matter of bilateral or multilateral responsibility, instead of NEAFC's responsibility.

Agreement was reached between NEAFC's Contracting Parties and the EEC on membership of the organisation in 1980, enabling the EEC to become a signatory. The 1980 meeting resulted in the Convention on Future Multilateral Cooperation in the North East Atlantic Fisheries. A new Commission was established in 1982.

The duties and obligations of the new Commission were similar to those of the former: it should serve as a forum for consultation and the exchange of information on fish stocks and management, and had the power to make recommendations concerning fisheries in international waters in the Convention area. However, since most fisheries took place inside coastal state jurisdiction, NEAFC lacked any real responsibility to manage them.

The development of the legal framework for fisheries management following the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, the Rio Declaration from 1992, and in particular the the UN Fish Stock Agreement on the Conservation and Management of Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks, resulted in a new dawn for NEAFC. The Commission decided to consider the future of NEAFC in the light of recent developments in the legal framework for fishing in waters outside national jurisdiction.

This is reflected in the Annual Activity Report and in the briefing document Information on the North East Atlantic Fisheries Commission.