Tending the achilles' heel of NAFO: Canada acts to protect the nose and tail of the Grand Banks

A number of important commercial fish stocks in the waters of eastern Canada straddle the boundary between Canada's exclusive fishing zone and the high seas. Management of these stocks by Canada and the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organisation (NAFO) has failed to prevent stock depletion. It is argued that NAFO has faced a major problem in developing a successful management regime for these straddling stocks: lack of an effective enforcement capability to make members comply with its total allowable catches (TACs), quota allocations, and technical measures and to prevent nonmember fishing within its Regulatory Area. Long-standing Canadian concern about NAFO's ability to enforce proper management of straddling stocks in the high seas area of the Grand Banks, prompted passage of an amended Coastal Fisheries Protection Act in May 1994 which allowed Canada to arrest and fine foreign vessels fishing beyond Canada's exclusive fishing zone (EFZ) in contravention of NAFO's conservation and management regime. It appears that use of this Act in 1994 eliminated fishing by non-members on the Nose and Tail of the Bank, while action against Spanish and Portuguse vessels in March 1995 may provide the help that NAFO needs in terms of noncompliance with its management regime by member states.