Convention on Future Multilateral Cooperation in the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries

 

Article I

1. The area to which this Convention applies, hereinafter referred to as
“the Convention Area”, shall be the waters of the Northwest Atlantic
Ocean north of 35d*00′ north latitude and west of a line extending due
north from 35d*00′ north latitude and 42d*00′ west longitude to 59d*00′
north latitude, thence due west to 44d*00′ west longitude, and thence due
north to the coast of Greenland, and the waters of the Gulf of St.
Lawrence, Davis Strait and Baffin Bay south of 78d*10′ north latitude.

2. The area referred to in this Convention as “the Regulatory Area”is
that part of the Convention Area which lies beyond the areas in which
coastal States exercise fisheries jurisdiction.

3. For the purposes of this Convention, “coastal State”shall hereinafter
mean a Contracting Party exercising fisheries jurisdiction in waters
forming part of the Convention Area.

4. This Convention applies to all fishery resources of the Convention
Area, with the following exceptions: salmon, tunas and marlins, cetacean
stocks managed by the International Whaling Commission or any successor
organization, and sedentary species of the Continental Shelf , i.e.,
organisms which, at the harvestable stage, either are immobile on or
under the seabed or are unable to move except in constant physical
contact with the seabed or the subsoil.

5. Nothing in this Convention shall be deemed to affect or prejudice the
positions or claims of any Contracting Party in regard to internal
waters, the territorial sea, or the limits or extent of the jurisdiction
of any Party over fisheries; or to affect or prejudice the views or
positions of any Contracting Party with respect to the law of the sea.

Article II

1. The Contracting Parties agree to establish and maintain an
international organization whose object shall be to contribute through
consultation and cooperation to the optimum utilization, rational
management and conservation of the fishery resources of the Convention
Area. This organization shall be known as the Northwest Atlantic
Fisheries Organization, hereinafter referred to as “the Organization”,
and shall carry out the functions set forth in this Convention.

2. The Organization shall consist of:

(a) a General Council;
(b) a Scientific Council;
(c) a Fisheries Commission; and
(d) a Secretariat.

3. The Organization shall have legal personality and shall enjoy in its
relations with other International Organizations and in the territories
of the Contracting Parties such legal capacity as may be necessary to
perform its functions and achieve its ends. The immunities and privileges
which the Organization and its officers shall enjoy in the territory of a
Contracting Party shall be subject to agreement between the Organization
and the Contracting Party concerned.

4. The headquarters of the Organization shall be at Dartmouth, Nova
Scotia, Canada, or at such other place as may be decided by the General
Council.

Article III

The functions of the General Council shall be:

(a) to supervise and coordinate the organizational, administrative,
financial and other internal affairs of the Organization, including the
relations among its constituent bodies;

(b) to coordinate the external relations of the Organization;

(c) to review and determine the membership of the Fisheries
Commission pursuant to Article XIII; and

(d) to exercise such other authority as is conferred upon it by this
Convention.

Article IV

1. Each Contracting Party shall be a member of the General Council and
shall appoint to the Council not more than three representatives who may
be accompanied at any of its meetings by alternates, experts and
advisers.

2. The General Council shall elect a Chairman and a Vice-Chairman, each
of whom shall serve for a term of two years and shall be eligible for
re-election but shall not serve for more than four years in succession.
The Chairman shall be a representative of a Contracting Party that is a
member of the Fisheries Commission and the Chairman and Vice-Chairman
shall be representatives of different Contracting Parties.

3. The Chairman shall be the President of the Organization and shall be
its principal representative.

4. The Chairman of the General Council shall convene a regular annual
meeting of the Organization at a place decided upon by the General
Council and which shall normally be in North America.

5. Any meeting of the General Council, other than the annual meeting, may
be called by the Chairman at such time and place as the Chairman may
determine, upon the request of a Contracting Party with the concurrence
of another Contracting Party.

6. The General Council may establish such Committees and Subcommittees as
it considers desirable for the exercise of its duties and functions.

Article V

1. Each Contracting Party shall have one vote in proceedings of the
General Council.

2. Except where otherwise provided, decisions of the General Council
shall be taken by a majority of the votes of all Contracting Parties
present and casting affirmative or negative votes, provided that no vote
shall be taken unless there is a quorum of at least two-thirds of the
Contracting Parties.

3. The General Council shall adopt, and amend as occasion may require,
rules for the conduct of its meetings and for the exercise of its
functions.

4. The General Council shall submit to the Contracting Parties an annual
report of the activities of the Organization.

Article VI

1. The functions of the Scientific Council shall be:

(a) to provide a forum for consultation and cooperation among the
Contracting Parties with respect to the study, appraisal and exchange of
scientific information and views relating to the fisheries of the
Convention Area, including environmental and ecological factors affecting
these fisheries, and to encourage and promote cooperation among the
Contracting Parties in scientific research designed to fill gaps in
knowledge pertaining to these matters;

(b) to compile and maintain statistics and records and to publish or
disseminate reports, information and materials pertaining to the
fisheries of the Convention Area, including environmental and ecological
factors affecting these fisheries;

(c) to provide scientific advice to coastal States, where requested
to do so pursuant to Article VII; and

(d) to provide scientific advice to the Fisheries Commission,
pursuant to Article VIII or on its own initiative as required for the
purposes of the Commission.

2. The functions of the Scientific Council may, where appropriate, be
carried out in cooperation with other public or private organizations
having related objectives.

3. The Contracting Parties shall furnish to the Scientific Council any
available statistical and scientific information requested by the Council
for the purpose of this Article.

 

Author: international

Mentioned in these Entries

Continental Shelf, Convention on Future Multilateral Cooperation in the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries 2, Convention on Future Multilateral Cooperation in the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries 3, Convention on Future Multilateral Cooperation in the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries 4, Conventions: Chronological Index 1971-1990, International Organizations, Marine and Coastal conventions.