The Delegations also agreed on a number of control and enforcement measures, including the EU proposal on automatically including NEAFC vessels on Illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) records of other Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (RFMOs). In addition, NEAFC decided to move further on the full implementation of the electronic transmission of fishing logbook and position information. The EU will be the first contracting party to implement such processes.

NEAFC also agreed to revitalize the working group on the future of the organisation. This working group will make the link between the international arena and the Commission and ensure that NEAFC remains a modern and effective RFMO.

The Permanent Committee on Management and Science (PECMAS) elected its new chair, Karin Linderholm from the Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management, who will take up her duties in 2020.

Furthermore, during this meeting the EU issued a statement on its instrumental contribution to the implementation of the International Agreement to Prevent Unregulated High Seas Fisheries in the Central Arctic Ocean.

Finally, NEAFC launched its standard recurring advice request to International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) for 2020.

Background

NEAFC is the intergovernmental organisation responsible for fisheries management in the North-East Atlantic. The European Union is a Contracting Party together with Denmark (in respect of the Faroe Islands and Greenland), Iceland, Norway and the Russian Federation.