NPAFC Has Big Plans for 2021

In the wake of its groundbreaking 2019 winter expedition in the Gulf of Alaska, the North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission (NPAFC) is now planning a 2021 Pan-Pacific High Seas Expedition.

NPAFC – along with the North Pacific Fish Commission and the North Pacific Marine Science Organization – held a two-day workshop in Victoria, B.C. in late October. The event brought together fish specialists, oceanographers, climatologists, and resource managers from around the Pacific Rim to explore findings from the winter outing. NPAFC President Suam Kim, writing in the latest issue of the NPAFC Newsletter, said workshop participants then recommended the core elements for the next expedition.

The goal of the 2021 exploration is to provide a platform for international collaborative ecosystem research to monitor the distribution, abundance and productivity of salmon. To that end, the commission’s North Pacific Steering Committee and the International Year of the Salmon Working Group will meet Feb. 25-28 in Vancouver, B.C. to plan for the multi-vessel Pan-Pacific expedition.

Kim also noted that the signing last spring of a Memorandum of Cooperation between NPAFC and the North Pacific Fish Commission will strengthen the long-term relationship between the two intergovernmental organizations. The memorandum calls for a five-year work plan, through 2025, that focuses on collaborative research and implementation of conservation and management measures relating to stocks and species of mutual interest in the North Pacific Ocean.

“Development of a common understanding of threats and knowledge gaps is an essential element for the management of salmon in the high seas,” said Kim.

NPAFC will hold its annual meeting in Hakodate, Hokkaido, Japan and host its third NPAFC-IYS workshop on Linkages between Pacific Salmon Production and Environmental Changes on May 23-25. These gatherings, in partnership with several Japanese fisheries entities, will provide opportunity for scientists and researchers to present studies and findings on all five International Year of the Salmon research themes, he added. Read Kim’s comments and the complete newsletter by going to https://npafc.org/wp-content/uploads/Newsletters/NWSL47.pdf

NPAFC, with offices in Vancouver, B.C., is an international intergovernmental organization established by the Convention for the Conservation of Anadromous Stock in the North Pacific Ocean. The Convention was signed on Feb. 11, 1992 and took effect on Feb. 16, 1993. Member countries are Canada, Japan, Republic of Korea, the Russian Federation and United States of America.