NAFO's overall objective is to contribute through consultation and cooperation to the optimum utilization, rational management and conservation of the fishery resources of the Convention Area.
NAFO's overall objective is to contribute, through consultation and cooperation, to the optimum utilization, rational management, and conservation of the fishery resources within the Convention Area.
[2] This framework ensures that marine biodiversity and ecosystem health are preserved alongside commercial fish stock management (Rochet & Rice, 2009; Brodziak & Mueter, 2016).
[4] Since the ratification of the Amended Convention in 2017, NAFO has implemented an ecosystem approach to fisheries management, which considers the interrelationships between the fish stocks and their environments.
The establishment of Exclusive Economic Zones under the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea fundamentally reshaped international fisheries governance, leading to the creation of NAFO as a replacement for ICNAF (McDorman, 2005).
[6] This extension of national fisheries jurisdiction over large areas of the continental shelf in this region by Canada, the United States, Greenland and St. Pierre and Miquelon required that the ICNAF be replaced with a new convention.
NAFO continues ICNAF's legacy under a mandate of providing scientific advice to member states with the premise of ensuring the conservation and management of fish stocks in the region.
In the preceding years leading up to the NAFO formation, the early roots trace back to the International Commission for the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries (ICNAF) in 1949.
NAFO’s new framework introduced more robust conservation measures and an emphasis on scientific research, aligning its approach with international fisheries law and modern resource management standards.
For instance, it has adopted a Vessel Monitoring System and a mandatory observer scheme, while also establishing protections for vulnerable marine ecosystems (VMEs) affected by bottom fishing.
These initiatives align NAFO’s goals with international conservation standards, including the United Nations Fish Stocks Agreement, which highlights the need for sustainable and responsible fisheries.