As per the conference release accurate catch reporting is a foundation for sustainable fisheries management, which benefits all North Atlantic Coastal Communities. The point of concern is full accounting for catches – an increasing necessity for sustainable fisheries management.
Fisheries Ministers and their representatives from the Faroe Islands, Greenland, Iceland, Norway and the Russian Federation attended the Conference, as did the Representative of the European Commissioner for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries. They have agreed that accurately measured fisheries are a condition for sustainable and responsible management. The ministers states that all catches should be fully accounted for in order to ensure that scientists have sufficiently detailed and accurate information to develop sound fisheries management advice.
In the conference it was noted that the increasing importance of ecosystem approaches to fisheries management and the need for greater information on the impacts of bycatch, discards and marine mammals on fish stocks. There should an effective policies and regulations to enable the full accounting of catches as well as landings. This promotes transparency and also provides confidence that quotas from bilateral and regional agreements are respected.
There is no doubt that accurate catch reporting is a challenging area and requires a change in fish harvesting culture. It is an investment both in the sustainability of the resource and the confidence of the consumer. Sustainable development must always include healthy stocks and healthy economics. The ministers put more stress on the critical importance of engaging the fishing industry itself. They agreed that fisheries often sustain coastal communities where other employment is not easily available.
