The North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission (NPAFC) is an international, inter-governmental organization dedicated to the conservation of anadromous fish stocks in international waters of the North Pacific Ocean and its adjacent seas. It was established on 11 February 1992 by the Convention for the Conservation of Anadromous Stocks in the North Pacific Ocean and originally consisted of four member nations: Canada, Japan, Russian Federation, and United States of America. On 27 May 2003, the Republic of Korea acceded to the Convention bringing the current number of Commission members to five. The primary objective of the Commission is to provide a mechanism for international cooperation promoting the conservation of anadromous stocks in the NPAFC Convention Area of the North Pacific Ocean.
The Convention The North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission (NPAFC) was established by the Convention for the Conservation of Anadromous Stocks in the North Pacific Ocean. On 11 February 1992, the Convention was signed by Canada, Japan, the Russian Federation, and the United States of America, and took effect on 16 February 1993. The Republic of Korea later acceded to the Convention on 27 May 2003. As indicated in the Convention, the main objective of the NPAFC is to promote the conservation of anadromous stocks in the North Pacific Ocean. The NPAFC provides a framework for international cooperation on the scientific research of anadromous species and enforcement of fisheries regulations in the Convention Area. The Convention prohibits directed catch of anadromous fish in the Convention Area, but allows for some fishing of these species for scientific purposes under national and joint research programs with prior approval of the NPAFC. The Convention also includes measures to reduce incidental catch of anadromous fish in other high seas fisheries and prohibits the retention of these species on board fishing vessels in the Convention Area.
Convention Area The NPAFC Convention area includes the waters of the North Pacific Ocean and adjacent seas (Bering Sea, Sea of Okhotsk), north of 33°N Latitude in international waters beyond the 200-mile zones of coastal states. Although not part of the Convention area, member nations may conduct scientific activities south of 33°N Latitude beyond the 200-mile zone.
Species Anadromous fish covered under the Convention include Pacific salmon and steelhead trout:
Chum salmon (Oncorhynchus keta) Coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) Pink salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) Sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) Cherry salmon (Oncorhynchus masou) Steelhead trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)
History
International North Pacific Fisheries Commission (INPFC) Following the conclusion of WWII and the signing of the San Francisco Peace Treaty in 1952, Canada, Japan, and the United States of America entered into a trilateral fisheries convention known as the International Convention for the High Seas Fisheries of the North Pacific Ocean. The Convention was signed by all three parties in Tokyo on 9 May 1952 and entered into force on 12 June 1953, thereby creating the International North Pacific Fisheries Commission (INPFC). INPFC nations worked to ensure the maximum sustained productivity of fishery resources in the North Pacific Ocean while encouraging conservation and contributed to the understanding of anadromous fish species, groundfishes, crabs, and marine mammals in the North Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea by publishing scientific bulletins, annual fisheries statistics, and annual reports. The International Convention for the High Seas Fisheries of the North Pacific Ocean was especially important to Japan, as it helped re-establish the Japanese fishing fleet grounded by the Allied Occupation and provided access to fishing grounds northeast of Hokkaido in the North Pacific. In addition to re-mobilizing the Japanese fishing fleet, however, the Convention established a western abstention line—the westernmost limit the Japanese fleet could fish in the North Pacific Ocean. The INPFC treaty worked in concert with multiple bi-lateral treaties between Canada, Japan, the USSR, and the US to create a tapestry of policies that formed a North Pacific fisheries management regime. The first significant change to the INPFC treaty came in 1978 after a year of negotiations between members about access to salmon outside of a country's potential Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ)—a concept developed at the third United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS III) in 1973. Most provisions of the original treaty remained in place and a new abstention line at 175° east longitude was developed for Japanese salmon fisherman. The conclusion of UNCLOS III in 1982 and ongoing discussions of a moratorium on pelagic salmon fishing in the North Pacific prompted calls for a re-negotiation of an international salmon treaty by Canada, the US, and the USSR. Japan at first objected to these calls, believing the INPFC framework currently in place to be sufficient, but agreed to re-negotiate a treaty in fear of being excluded from international salmon talks.
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