At the 35th annual meeting of the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO), measures were announced to improve the quality of catch data that the organisation collects, along with expanding areas closed to bottom fishing.
NAFO's Fisheries Commission and Scientific Council held a joint meeting last week to resolve discrepancies between official catch statistics and figures estimated by scientists. To improve transparency, daily catch reports submitted by vessels to the NAFO headquarters over a satellite system, currently used to monitor compliance with quotas, will be made available to scientists. This will help to validate their catch data from other sources.
NAFO also agreed to expand a number of areas closed to bottom fishing, designed to protect deep-sea corals and sea pens.
However, two additionally proposed areas were not agreed and are pending the analysis of more information from research surveys.
In 2014 NAFO is set to carry out a full review of its closed areas, and impact assessments for all fisheries are due in 2016.
