North Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO), has authorised a cod fishery in division 3L – the northern area in international waters of the Newfoundland Grand Banks – after a 32-year of moratorium.
This is alongside a 2025 quota for 12,613 tonnes of cod in the 3M area of Flemish Cap, in addition to the 947-tonne cod allocation for Division 3L for nations other than Canada – equivalent to 5% of the TAC.
Of this 947 tonnes, 735 tonnes are allocated to the EU fleet, and 160 tonnes of this goes to Spanish vessels. This follows Canada’s decision to re-open the fishery for Northern cod in Divisions 2J3KL for the first time in more than 30 years.
TACs for rays and forkbeard remain unchanged and there is a 2.4% reduction to the Greenland halibut quota.
Decisions were made public at the NAFO 46th annual meeting in Halifax.
