North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission

Purpose

The North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission promotes the conservation of anadromous stocks in the Convention Area with the implementation of conservation measures, the promotion of scientific study of anadromous species and the enforcement of fishing restrictions. Currently, all directed fishing of anadromous stocks in the Convention area is prohibited.

Convention Area Top of Page

The area of competence for the Commission is the waters of the North Pacific Ocean and its adjacent seas, north of 33°N latitude beyond the 200-mile exclusive economic zones of coastal States.

ANNUAL MEETINGTop of Page

CANADA’S OBJECTIVES

Going into the 2011 annual meeting, Canada’s objectives are:

• To be focused on the two longstanding priorities of the Commission:
  • Cooperation on surveillance and enforcement efforts among the Contracting Parties to deter illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing for salmon on the high seas of the North Pacific Ocean; and
  • to exchange scientific information to expand understanding of the influences of climatic and marine conditions on Pacific salmon.
• The development of rules of procedure to establish an Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Vessel List is also a priority for Canada going into the 2011 annual meeting.

TO BE DISCUSSED AT THE MEETING

• The implementation of the Performance Review’s recommendations adopted at the 2010 annual meeting.
• Hatchery releases of salmon in the North Pacific Ocean potentially affecting wild stocks.
  • North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission members make considerable investments in hatcheries each year.
  • New research projects outlined in the 2011-2015 Science Plan adopted at the 2010 annual meeting will help improve our understanding of the carrying capacity of the North Pacific to produce salmon. The migration and survival mechanisms of juvenile salmon in ocean ecosystems, climate impacts on Pacific salmon production in the Bering Sea and adjacent waters and winter survival of Pacific salmon in North Pacific Ocean ecosystems will also be discussed.
  • Fisheries and Oceans Canada scientists have been studying the reasons for the variability in abundances of salmon for more than a decade.  They are relating the differences in total returns to the survival of juvenile salmon in the Strait of Georgia and the Gulf of Alaska. 

• Following the meeting Canada will host a workshop on the high abundance of pink and chum salmon.

Species Managed Top of Page

Anadromous fish are born in freshwater sources such as rivers, migrate to the ocean to mature, and return to freshwater to spawn. The anadromous fish stocks covered under the Convention are as follows: chum salmon, coho salmon, pink salmon, sockeye salmon, chinook salmon, cherry salmon and steelhead trout.

Contracting Parties Top of Page

The North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission currently comprises the following 5 Contracting Parties: Canada, Japan, the Russian Federation, the Republic of Korea and the United States.

Benefits for CanadaTop of Page

Some of the benefits leveraged by Canadian scientists through the North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission include:

• Access to data and research results from scientists in other countries which would not otherwise be available to Canadian scientists in a timely manner or at all; and
• The ability to conduct coordinated and collaborative research to understand the extent at which anadromous fish stock can develop within the Convention Area as well as marine environmental factors including climate change that affect salmon survival and inform effective fisheries management.

Achievements Top of Page

• For conservation purposes there has not been any authorized directed fishing for anadromous stocks in the Convention area by the Contracting Parties since the coming into force of the Convention in 1993. 
• The Commission has largely succeeded in eliminating non-Party high seas driftnet fishing directly or indirectly targeting anadromous fish.
• The scientific work of the Commission focuses on the leading scientific questions relating to anadromous stocks in the Convention Area, such as productivity regimes, climate change, and the understanding of salmonid biology and ecology in significant geographic regions such as the Bering Sea. This is proving useful in conserving anadromous fish stocks given the Commission does not have the mandate to set or manage stock-specific catch allocations.

Canada's Leadership Role Top of Page

Canada is working with the United States and Korea to develop Rules of Procedure for an Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Vessel List with a view to having a proposal ready for adoption by the Commission during the annual meeting in October 2011. The development of such vessel lists is a priority for Canada and a positive step forward for the Commission.

 

Important Links

• The North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission official website
• Fisheries and Oceans page on Operation driftnet.