Premier Brian Tobin commented today on the decisions reached at the annual meeting of the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO) held this year in St. Petersburg, Russia from September 9 - 13, 1996.

"NAFO has made some important decisions regarding the conservation of fish stocks on the Nose and Tail of the Grand Banks," the premier said. "In addition to continuing moratoria on northern cod and other stocks, NAFO has, for the first time, recognized Canada's authority to set the Total Allowable Catch (TAC) for northern cod." The premier noted that officials from the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans, the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, and the fishing industry worked closely to advance Canada's interests at the NAFO meeting. "Under the capable direction of Minister Mifflin the Canadian team worked hard to achieve useful results," he said.

This arrangement will ensure that there is effective control and enforcement of the northern cod fishery when it re-opens. NAFO has agreed that Canada will set the TAC for northern cod, and that foreign catches of this stock outside 200 miles will be limited to five per cent of the TAC. Unregulated overfishing of the northern cod stock by foreign vessels outside 200 miles was a major factor in the demise of this stock, and effective control of foreign vessels is essential to the future of this fishery.

The agreement on regulation of northern cod is effective until the 2005. "While this is the best that could be achieved, Canada must work to ensure that this arrangement becomes a permanent part of NAFO framework," the premier said.

The premier also noted that NAFO has established a special working group on dispute settlement. "Abuse of NAFO's objection procedure and lack of adherence to NAFO rules are key aspects of the foreign overfishing problem," Premier Tobin said. "It is my hope that this group will build on new UN Fisheries Agreement (UNFA) to create consensus on the need for strong, effective dispute settlement within NAFO.

"Recent changes to NAFO and the new UN Agreement reflect significant progress in the conservation and protection of straddling fish stocks on the Nose and Tail of the Grand Banks. The challenge ahead is to extend this progress and build an effective management and enforcement regime for the high seas stocks of the Flemish Cap."

While Canada takes only a small share of the resources of the Flemish Cap, it nevertheless made strong representations at the NAFO meeting for a cautious and conservative approach to their management. Other nations that fish in this area argued for higher quotas, and while NAFO did establish quotas that will reduce fishing effort, they exceed scientific advice.

"It is tragic that a more conservation-minded approach to quotas has not been established for stocks on the Flemish Cap," the premier said. "This shows that the mindset of some nations has not changed. They would be continuing to plunder all of the fish stocks of the Grand Banks if Canada had not acted on the Nose and Tail," he said, adding: "Progress in addressing the overfishing problem on the Flemish Cap is crucial to the sustainable development of the Grand Banks."