The Convention on Future Multilateral Cooperation in North-East Atlantic Fisheries (the NEAFC Convention)

The North-East Atlantic Fisheries Commission (NEAFC) is an international organisation established under the Convention on Future Multilateral Co-operation in the North East Atlantic Fisheries, which entered into force on 17 March 1982. This Convention replaced the original North East Atlantic Fisheries Convention of 1959 (which operated from 1963), which in turn had replaced the 1946 Convention for the Regulation of Meshes and Fishing Nets and the Size Limits of Fish. The earliest convention can be traced back to the period between the world wars in the 1930s, when several conferences were held to address the issue of the rational exploitation of fish resources in the north-east Atlantic. However, the modern rebirth of NEAFC is as a result of the withdrawal of the Community Member States as individual members of the 1963 organisation and the general extension in 1977 of fishery limits to 200 miles.