The 46th Annual Meeting of the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organisation (NAFO) was held from 23 to 27 September 2024 at the Halifax Marriott Harbourfront Hotel in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.

This is a Regional Fisheries Management Organisation that aims to manage, on a multilateral basis, fishing resources located on the high seas in an area contiguous to Canada's Exclusive Economic Zone. It comprises 13 Contracting Parties: Canada, Cuba, Denmark, representing the Faroe Islands and Greenland, the United States of America, the Russian Federation, France, representing St Pierre et Miquelon, Iceland, Japan, Norway, the United Kingdom, the Republic of Korea, Ukraine and the European Union. This meeting was attended by delegates from all the Contracting Parties, with the exception of the Republic of Korea, involving the physical presence of around 180 participants.

All the Member States with fishing interests and opportunities were physically present: Portugal, Spain, Poland, Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia, with the exception of Germany and France.

In national terms, and as usual, the focus of the negotiations was on cod stocks.

In the case of 3M cod, the NAFO Scientific Council's (SC) recommendation was to set a TAC for 2025 of 10,913 tonnes, i.e. 795 tonnes less than in 2024 (11,708 tonnes), which led Portugal to contradict this position, since in addition to creating instability in the fishery, it was not reflected in the real situation of the resource. We are therefore in favour of setting the TAC in line with the level of fishing mortality agreed for 2024. At EU level, the majority of member states with an interest in this stock agreed with Portugal, and at the end of the meeting the EU reached a consensus of the parties in approving the TAC at 12,613 tonnes, as sought by Portugal.

In the case of cod from Divisions 2J3KL, which had been under moratorium for 32 years, the fishery was reopened by Canada on 26 June 2024, but remained closed to other Parties in international waters regulated by NAFO. The TAC for this stock is set by Canada, and in accordance with NAFO rules (Article 7(1)), NAFO is responsible for 5% of this TAC, i.e. 947 tonnes. The distribution key applicable to this 5% is 65.4% for the EU and 34.6% for NAFO's Other Contracting Parties (CPs). Canada demanded that the quota of the ‘Other Contracting Parties’ be distributed, so the EU and Canada presented a joint proposal on this distribution, as well as additional measures to define the management of catches in order to ensure responsible management of the fishery. In plenary, the NAFO Contracting Parties agreed to this proposal and the fishery was reopened to NAFO CPs.

With regard to the other stocks of importance to Portugal, all fishing opportunities have been maintained, despite the small decrease in the Palmeta TAC, down 2.4%, equivalent to 268 tonnes compared to 2024.

The closure of the 3M shrimp fishery will continue in 2025. Also noteworthy is the particular situation of the 3LN redfish stock, which, despite the Scientific Council's very conservative opinion that it should be closed, the fishery will remain open, albeit with a reduced TAC. Despite not having an allocated quota for this stock, Portugal's offshore fishing fleet catches this species, which it obtains through the quota exchange process under Article 16(8) of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013.

The STATIC (Control and Inspection Group) has not adopted any new rules that will affect the activity of the Portuguese fleet operating in the NAFO area.

Portugal's fishing opportunities in 2025 in the NAFO fishing grounds will therefore be as follows:

Please be advised that the 47th annual NAFO meeting, which will take place from 22 to 26 September 2025, will be held in Halifax, Canada, and the 48th annual NAFO meeting, which will take place from 21 to 25 September 2026, will be held in Lithuania.