GIWA - Global International Waters Assessment

Major intergovernmental agreements and actors

Convention on Future Multilateral Cooperation in the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries
The Convention, adopted in 1978 and in force in 1979, established the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO). The 1978 Convention (here also as a pdf file) replaced the 1949 International Convention for the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries and NAFO replaced the International Commission for the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries (ICNAF). The prime objective of NAFO has been to contribute through consultation and cooperation to the optimum utilization, rational management and conservation of the fishery resources of the Convention Area. NAFO promotes contemporary ideas for international collaboration in the high seas based on the scientific research fundamentals.

Convention for the Conservation of Salmon in the North Atlantic Ocean
The objective of the Convention, adopted in 1982 and in force in 1983, is to prohibit fishing of salmon beyond areas of fisheries jurisdiction of coastal state, and also to prohibit fishing of salmon beyond 12 nautical miles from the baseline from which the breadth of the territorial sea is measured except within the area of fisheries jurisdiction of the Faroe Islands and in the West Greenland area. See also NASCO Council Resolutions. The Convention establishes the North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organization, NASCO. The objective of NASCO is to contribute through consultation and cooperation to the conservation, restoration, enhancement and rational management of salmon stocks subject to the Convention taking into account the best scientific evidence available to it. Regional commissions of NASCO are the North American Commission, the North-East Atlantic Commission, and the West Greenland Commission.

International Convention for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas
The Convention (see also pdf file) was adopted in 1966 and entered into force in 1969. The purpose of the Convention is the conservation of the resources of tuna and tuna-like fishes of the Atlantic Ocean. The International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) was established in 1969, under the Convention, as an inter-governmental fishery organization responsible for the conservation of tunas and tuna-like species in the Atlantic Ocean and its adjacent seas. ICCAT is the only fisheries organization that can undertake the range of work required for the study and management of tunas and tuna-like fishes in the Atlantic. The Commission's work requires the collection and analysis of statistical information relative to current conditions and trends of the fishery resources in the Convention area.

North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation, NAAEC
The North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC) is the environmental side agreement to the NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement). The NAAEC was signed by Canada, Mexico and the United States and came into force January 1, 1994. The Agreement creates a framework to better conserve, protect and enhance the North American environment through cooperation and effective enforcement of environmental laws.The North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) is the executive body for the Agreement. The Commission addresses regional environmental concerns in North America, helps prevent potential trade and environmental conflicts, and promotes the effective enforcement of environmental law, all as part of its mandate under the Agreement. This is done through the following programs: Environment, Economy and Trade; Conservation of Biodiversity; Pollutants and Health; Law and Policy; and Other Initiatives. Marine issues are found under "Stewardship for Shared Terrestrial and Marine Ecosystems and Transboundary Species": Cooperation on the Protection of Marine and Coastal Ecosystems; Mapping Marine and Estuarine Ecosystems of North America [will commence in 2001]; North American Marine Protected Areas Network; and North American Biodiversity Conservation Mechanisms.

UN Economic Commission for Europe, ECE
The Environment and Human Settlements Division is part of the secretariat of the UN ECE. It brings together economists, scientists, urban planners and other experts, and organizes the regular intergovernmental meetings of the Committee on Environmental Policy, the Executive Body for the Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution, the Meeting of the Parties to the Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes and the Committee on Human Settlements. At these meetings, government representatives from Europe, North America, Central Asia and Israel address environmental and human settlements issues, such as environmental impact assessment, air and water pollution, urban renewal or land registration.

International Council for the Exploration of the Sea, ICES
ICES is the oldest intergovernmental organisation in the world concerned with marine and fisheries science. Since its establishment in Copenhagen in 1902, ICES has been a leading scientific forum for the exchange of information and ideas on the sea and its living resources, and for the promotion and coordination of marine research by scientists within its member countries. Since the 1970s, a major area of ICES work as an intergovernmental marine science organization is to provide information and advice to Member Country governments and international regulatory commissions (including the OSPAR and the European Commission) for the protection of the marine environment and for fisheries conservation.