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NAFO Observer Programme
The Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO) Regulatory Area (NRA) covers the western and southern margins of the Grand Banks which lie outside the Canadian EEZ. Fishing in this area is managed by international agreement between the member nations of NAFO, formerly the International Commission for Northwest Atlantic Fisheries (ICNAF). Distant water fleets from the European Union, Central and Eastern Europe and Asia have a long history of exploiting the areas’ groundfish stocks.
MRAG is responsible for the management of the European Union’s (EU) observer program, which requires year round deployment of observers on all European Union fishing vessels operating within the NRA. MRAG first undertook the program in 1995. MRAG’s present contract with the EU will be reviewed in 2002.
Current target species include greenland halibut (Reinhardtius hippoglossoides), witch flounder (Glyptocephalus cynoglossus), yellowtail flounder (Limanda ferrginea) and skate (rajidae). Commonly, in excess of 30 EU vessels are licenced to exploit these stocks within the NRA at any one time. All vessels are required to carry an observer. EU requests for observers are invariably at short notice, it is therefore vital that observers are deployed rapidly to ensure that fishing operations are not delayed. Effective operation of the program requires considerable liaison with industry representatives to assess future needs, and the maintenance of a pool of skilled observers to satisfy deployment requirements.
The main function of EU observers is to monitor the fishing vessels compliance with the relevant NAFO Conservation and Enforcement Measures. These duties include verifying the position of vessels when engaged in fishing activities, recording details of fishing gear, verifying entries made in production logbooks, reporting evidence of apparent infringements, analyzing total catch composition and weight on a haul-by-haul basis, and monitoring discards, bycatch and catches of undersized fish. In addition, observers are trained to undertake biological sampling, although at this stage no requirement exists . MRAG provides all observers with scientific and safety equipment, and special safety and work clothing. Recently, MRAG also took over the responsibility of maintaining and managing the computer database used to handle all data collected by the observer program.
All observers are debriefed at the end of each trip, both reports and data are submitted to the EU DG-XIV (Fisheries), the NAFO Executive Secretary and national fisheries bodies of respective vessels.
North Pacific Groundfish Observer Program
The North Pacific Groundfish Observer Program (NPGOP) operated by the Alaska Fisheries Science Center of the US National Marine Fisheries Service, collects, maintains, and distributes data for scientific, management, and regulation compliance for fisheries in the 900,000 mile EEZ off the coast of Alaska. This observer program deploys, through private observer companies, nearly 400 certified groundfish observers each year, providing 25 to 35 thousand data collection days annually on a variety of commercial fishing vessels. It is the single largest fisheries observer program in the world and has been functioning continuously for more than ten years.
Since its inception, demands on the NPGOP and its observers have been evolving, resulting in increased responsibilities and complexity. Yet additional requirements were not handled through a systematic process, therefore concerns arose regarding program integrity, conflicts of interest, cost equity, coverage level flexibility, and maintenance of a corps of experienced, professional observers.
MRAG Americas was contracted to conduct a independent review of the overall performance of the NPGOP, with particular focus on those components under the control of the US National Marine Fisheries Service. Two basic approaches were used for the evaluation. The first was to look at the Program’s performance relative to its stated goals and objectives, and the second was to look at the program objectives, structure, implementation and performance relative to similar observer programs in the region and elsewhere in the world, making direct "peer-group" comparisons. Five major issues were considered during the review:
Program goals and objectives:
- Program authorities and organizational structure
- Observer coverage levels
- Cost distribution
- The observer support system