The North East Atlantic Fisheries Commission (NEAFC) is the Regional Fisheries Management Organisation (RFMO) for the North East Atlantic, one of the most abundant fishing areas in the world. The area covered by the NEAFC Convention (i.e., Convention on Future Multilateral Cooperation in North-East Atlantic Fisheries) stretches from the southern tip of Greenland, east to the Barents Sea, and south to Portugal (see this on a map). The Convention was adopted on 18 November 1980 and entered into force in 1982. It replaced the earlier 1959 North-East Atlantic Fisheries Convention.
NEAFC’s objective is to ensure the long-term conservation and optimum utilization of the fishery resources in the Convention Area, providing sustainable economic, environmental, and social benefits. To this end, NEAFC adopts management measures for various fish stocks and control measures to ensure that they are properly implemented. NEAFC also adopts measures to protect other parts of the marine ecosystem from potential negative impacts of fisheries.