Loyola Hearn, Canada’s Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, met Norway’s Minister for Fisheries and Coastal Affairs, Helga Pedersen, on 14 November to build on shared successes in strengthening the management of high seas fish stocks and ensuring sustainable domestic fisheries.
The Minister is in the Nordic countries of Iceland and Norway this week to accelerate the fight against illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing in the North Atlantic Ocean. This includes sharing information on port state measures that prevent illegal fish from entering the market, and discussing other port state sanctions that were agreed to by all North Atlantic Fisheries Ministers at their annual meeting in June 2006. It also includes finding ways to strengthen monitoring, control and surveillance of the high seas so overfishing by members of regional fisheries management organizations, and IUU fishers are caught and dealt with harshly.
Canada and Norway are both members of the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization, the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas, and the North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organization. Strengthening these organizations to ensure that they better manage high seas fish stocks and protect vulnerable marine ecosystems is a shared priority. The Ministers also discussed continuing the successes achieved at NAFO.
During his two-day stop in Norway, Minister Hearn is also meeting government officials and industry leaders to learn more about Norway’s domestic fisheries and aquaculture industries. This includes visiting aquaculture facilities in Bergen that specialize in salmon and cod farming. The Minister is also discussing market access for seal products and seal pelt processing issues with the Norwegian seal industry.
