North-East Atlantic Commission

The members of the North-East Atlantic Commission (NEAC) are Denmark (in respect of the Faroe Islands and Greenland), the European Union, Norway and the Russian Federation.

Canada and the United States of America have the right to submit and vote on proposals for regulatory measures concerning salmon stocks originating in their rivers and occurring off East Greenland.

The functions of the Commission include:

• providing a forum for consultation and co-operation on the conservation, restoration, enhancement and rational management of salmon stocks
• proposing regulatory measures
• making recommendations on scientific research.

The Council has adopted Rules of Procedure for the Commission (found in the Handbook of Basic Texts). NEAC papers and reports can be found on the Annual Meeting Pages.

Regulatory Measures

Regulatory measures or Decisions have been agreed by the North-East Atlantic Commission in most years since NASCO’s establishment. These have resulted in greatly reduced allowable catches in the Faroese fishery, reflecting declining abundance of the salmon stocks. No fishery for salmon has been prosecuted at the Faroe Islands since 2001 .

Gyrodactylus salaris

One of the major threats to stocks of Atlantic salmon in the freshwater phase is the parasite Gyrodactylus salaris. Work on Gyrodactylus salaris is carried out under the North-East Atlantic Commission.