Annual Report 2016

North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission 

Annual Report 2016 

2016 | Annual Report | Page i

Page ii | Annual Report | 2016

North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission 

Annual Report 2016 

Table of Contents 

I. Introduction............................................................................................................................................................... 1 

II. General Information.................................................................................................................................................. 5 

1. Foundation and Goals of the NPAFC.................................................................................................................................. 7 

2. Convention Area.................................................................................................................................................................. 9 

3. Species............................................................................................................................................................................... 11 

4. Scientific Research............................................................................................................................................................ 16 

5. Enforcement in 2016......................................................................................................................................................... 18 

6. Statistics............................................................................................................................................................................ 19 

III. The 2016 IYS Scoping Meeting.............................................................................................................................. 27 

1. Time and Place of the Meeting......................................................................................................................................... 29 

2. Participants........................................................................................................................................................................30 

3. Agenda............................................................................................................................................................................... 32 

4. Second Scoping Meeting Outcome................................................................................................................................. 33 

IV. 2016 Joint Patrol Schedule Meeting...................................................................................................................... 37 

1. Time and agenda of the email Meeting............................................................................................................................ 39 

2. Participants........................................................................................................................................................................39 

3. Coordination of the 2016 NPAFC Joint Patrol Schedule.................................................................................................40 

V. 24 th Annual Meeting................................................................................................................................................ 43 

1. Time and Place of the Meeting.........................................................................................................................................45 

2. Participants........................................................................................................................................................................45 

3. Agenda...............................................................................................................................................................................48 

4. Opening Remarks..............................................................................................................................................................50 

5. Executive Director’s Report.............................................................................................................................................. 57 

6. Consideration of Enforcement.........................................................................................................................................64 

7. Consideration of Scientific Research and Statistics.......................................................................................................64 

8. Consideration of Administrative and Fiscal Matters....................................................................................................... 78 

9. Executive Director's Term of Office and Related Issues..................................................................................................80 

10. Election of the Commissions's Officers...........................................................................................................................80 

11. News Releases..................................................................................................................................................................80 

12. Closing Remarks............................................................................................................................................................... 81 

VI. The Commission’s activities after the 24 th Annual Meeting.................................................................................. 87 

1. Consideration of Enforcement.........................................................................................................................................88 

2. Consideration of Scientific Research and Statistics.......................................................................................................88 

3. Consideration of Administrative and Fiscal Matters.......................................................................................................90 

VII. People...................................................................................................................................................................... 93 

VIII. Meetings and Events ............................................................................................................................................109 

IX. 

Appendices.............................................................................................................................................................117 

1. Combined Scheme of Patrolling—2016........................................................................................................................ 118 

2. NPAFC List of Actions (LoA) on the Prioritized Recommendations from the Performance Review Report...............120 

3. Research Vessel Cruise Plans, 2016–2017..................................................................................................................... 127 

4. Sample and Data Requests (2016 CSRS meeting)........................................................................................................ 132 

5. Funding request for the International Year of the Salmon two-year planning phase 2016/17 and 2017/18............... 137 

6. Ongoing reserve fund request for annual travel to other international organizations ...............................................140 

7. News Releses.................................................................................................................................................................. 142 

X. 2016 NPAFC Documents.......................................................................................................................................157 

2016 | Annual Report | Page iii

Page iv | Annual Report | 2016

I. Introduction 

2016 | Annual Report | Page 1

Page 2 | Annual Report | 2016

I. Introduction 

The Annual Report summarizes the activities of the Commission in the 2016. The Report provides 

descriptions of the 2nd International Year of the Salmon (IYS) Scoping Meeting on March 15–16, 2016, the 

e-mail Joint Patrol Schedule Meeting (JPSM) on 14-16 February 2016, and includes all major discussions taken 

place and documents approved at the 24th Annual Meeting of the Commission (May 16-20, 2016). Due to 

switching the timing of the annual meeting from late autumn to spring, the Report contains a description of the 

Commission’s activities after the Annual Meeting in May 2016. At the 2017 NPAFC Annual Meeting in Victoria, 

the Executive Director will present some of the activities described in this Report to the Commission. 



II. General Information 



II. 1. Foundation & Goals of the NPAFC 

The North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission (NPAFC) was established under the Convention for the Conservation of 

Anadromous Stocks in the North Pacific Ocean (hereafter the Convention), signed by Canada, Japan, the Russian Federation and the 

United States of America (original Parties) at Moscow on February 11, 1992. Thereafter, Japan ratified the Convention on May 26, 

Russian Federation–on November 4, Canada–on November 6, and the United States–on November 9, 1992. The Convention entered 

into force on February 16, 1993. On May 27, 2003, the Republic of Korea deposited its instrument of accession to the Convention and 

became the fifth member of the NPAFC. 

The NPAFC promotes the conservation of salmonids and ecologically related species in the North Pacific Ocean and its adjacent 

seas. The Commission serves as a forum for cooperation in and coordination of enforcement activities and scientific research. With 

development of the Convention, the process of establishing a comprehensive international regime for conservation of anadromous 

stocks in the North Pacific Ocean was completed. 

The Convention is based on the recognition that anadromous stocks intermingle extensively during their migrations on the high 

seas of the North Pacific, and the States of origin have the primary interest in and responsibility for such stocks. The fisheries for 

anadromous stocks should be conducted only in waters within the 200-mile zones, and that the States of origin make expenditures 

and forego economic development opportunities to establish favourable conditions to conserve and manage these stocks. 

The goal of conservation is consolidated by prohibition of directed fishing for anadromous fish in the Convention Area. The 

NPAFC Convention Area is the waters of the North Pacific Ocean and its adjacent seas, north of 33 degrees North Latitude beyond 

200 nautical miles from the baselines from which the breadth of the territorial sea is measured. 

The Commission attains its goals through coordination of the NPAFC Parties’ enforcement activities, promotion of national and 

mutual scientific research on Pacific salmon, and supporting the exchanges of catch, effort, and stock enhancement information. 

Therefore, the Convention represents an important instrument of collective responsibility and cooperative efforts of the Contracting 

Parties in protection and conservation of North Pacific salmon resources. 

The strength of this Commission lies in the shared purpose and active efforts of the Contracting Parties to ensure the conservation 

and sustainable utilization of North Pacific salmon resources for the benefit of domestic fishermen in their respective waters. As a 

result, the Commission in its 24-year history has become a model of positive and successful international cooperation. 

NPAFC consists of three standing committees—Scientific Research and Statistics (CSRS), Enforcement (ENFO), and Finance and 

Administration (F&A)—and Secretariat. In its turn, CSRS comprises the Science Sub-Committee (SSC), and several working groups. 

The Headquarters of the Commission is located at Vancouver, B.C., Canada. 



II. 2. Convention Area 

The NPAFC Convention Area (as prescribed in Article I of the Convention) is the waters of the North Pacific Ocean and its adjacent 

seas, north of 33 degrees North Latitude beyond 200 nautical miles from the baselines from which the breadth of the territorial sea is 

measured. It is understood that activities under this Convention, for scientific purposes, may extend farther southward in the North 

Pacific Ocean and its adjacent seas in areas beyond 200 nautical miles from the baselines from which the breadth of the territorial sea 

is measured. 

Map credit: modified from ©FAO 2016 (http://www.fao.org/fishery/rfb/npafc) 



II. 3. Species 

Anadromous fish migrate from freshwater where they hatch to the ocean where they spend most of their lives and grow large 

before returning to freshwater to spawn. Common anadromous fish include salmon, smelt, sturgeon, and lamprey. 

Six species of Pacific salmon (pink, chum, sockeye, coho, Chinook, and cherry) and steelhead trout are covered by the 

Convention. These species are characterized by different levels of their abundance in different regions but they are equally important 

with regard to the Convention. 

Pacific salmon are anadromous fish of the genus Oncorhynchus spp. that are hatched in freshwater and spend most of their lives 

rearing in the ocean before returning to freshwater to spawn. Pacific salmon are semelparous, meaning that after spawning once, all 

the adults die. 

Steelhead trout are also in the genus Oncorhynchus. A steelhead is the anadromous form of the rainbow trout and can make 

extensive oceanic migrations in the North Pacific. Unlike Pacific salmon, which are semelparous, steelhead are iteroparous, meaning 

they can survive spawning and repeat the migration to the ocean and return to freshwater to spawn more than once. 

Pink Salmon 

Pink salmon are the most abundant species of Pacific 

salmon and originate both in Asia and North America. Upon 

emergence, pink salmon fry migrate quickly to the sea and 

grow rapidly as they make extensive feeding migrations. 

Pink salmon have a fixed two-year life cycle. After eighteen 

months in the ocean, maturing fish return to their river of origin 

to spawn. An odd-year dominance cycle of pink salmon exists 

in many regions of the North Pacific, meaning that the number 

of adults returning to freshwater in an odd-numbered year is 

much higher than the number returning in an even-numbered 

year. Adults are the smallest Pacific salmon and range from 

45–55 cm in length and 1.0–2.5 Kg in weight. Pink salmon die 

after spawning (semelparous). 

How to distinguish the ocean phase: Pink salmon have 

large oval black spots on the back (dorsolaterally) of the 

body and on both lobes of the tail fin. Scales are very small. 

A large hump develops on the back of maturing males. The 

meat is pink, relatively soft, and is relatively low in fat content 

compared with Chinook and sockeye salmon. 

Scientific name 

English 

Japanese 

Korean 

Russian 

Oncorhynchus gorbuscha 

Pink salmon 

Other com mon names: Humpy salmon, 

Humpback salmon 

カラフトマス (Karafutomasu) 

곱사연어 (Gopsayeoneo) 

Горбуша (Gorbusha) 


Chum Salmon 

Chum salmon are the second most abundant species of 

Pacific salmon and originate both in Asia and North America. 

The fish spawn in streams and the fry migrate to the sea soon 

after emergence from the gravel. 

Immature chum salmon distribute themselves widely over 

the North Pacific Ocean, and the maturing adults return to the 

home streams in summer or autumn at various ages, usually 

after spending 2 to 5 winters at sea. Adults have been reported 

up to 108.8 cm in length and 20.8 kg in weight. Chum salmon 

die after spawning (semelparous). 

How to distinguish the ocean phase: Chum salmon do 

not have spots on the body or tail. The tail fin has distinct 

silver streaks. Compared with other Pacific salmon, the 

caudal peduncle is relatively narrow and the pupil of the eye 

is relatively large. The meat is pale pink, slightly firm, and 

relatively low in fat content compared with Chinook and 

sockeye salmon. 


English 

Japanese 

Korean 

Russian 

Oncorhynchus gorbuscha 

Chum salmon 

Other common names: 

Dog salmon 

シロザケ (Shirozake) 

연어 (Yeoneo) 

Кета (Keta) 

Sockeye Salmon 

Sockeye salmon are the third most abundant species of 

Pacific salmon and originate both in Asia and North America. 

Typically juvenile sockeye salmon utilize lakes for rearing areas 

for one to three years after emergence from the gravel, but 

some populations can utilize stream areas for rearing and may 

migrate to sea soon after emergence. 

Sockeye salmon spend 1–4 years in the ocean before 

returning to fresh water to spawn. Body size of adults is 

variable, but can range 45-60 cm in length and 1.6–3.2 Kg in 

weight. Sockeye salmon die after spawning (semelparous). 

How to distinguish the ocean phase: Sockeye salmon do 

not have black spots present on the body or tail. Scales are 

neatly arranged in regular rows on the body. Meat color is 

bright red, relatively firm, and high in fat content compared to 

chum and pink salmon. 


English 

Japanese 

Korean 

Russian 

Oncorhynchus nerka 

Sockeye salmon 


Red salmon, Bluebacks 

ベニザケ (Benizake) 

홍연어 (Hongyeoneo) 

Нерка (Nerka) 


Coho Salmon 

Coho salmon originate both in Asia and North America. 

Coho salmon fry generally remain in freshwater for one to two 

years and then migrate to the ocean. After approximately 18 

months at sea, the fish return to their freshwater spawning 

areas. 

The adult size is variable with lengths ranging from 40–88 

cm and weights from 1.2–6.8 kg. Coho salmon die after 

spawning (semelparous). 

How to distinguish the ocean phase: Coho salmon have 

small black spots on the back that may be also present on 

the upper lobe of the tail. The tail has bright but not welldemarcated 

silver coloration. The caudal peduncle is relatively 

broad and the base of the teeth in the lower jaw is white. The 

meat is pink and firm and can have a drier texture than other 

Pacific salmon species when cooked. 


English 

Japanese 

Korean 

Russian 

Oncorhynchus kisutch 

Coho salmon 

Other common names: Silver salmon 

ギンザケ (Ginzake) 

은연어 (Eunyeoneo) 

Кижуч (Kizhutch) 

Chinook Salmon 

Chinook salmon originate both in Asia and North America. 

Chinook salmon are not as abundant as chum, pink, and 

sockeye salmon and can grow to a body size larger than other 

Pacific Salmon. Their life history includes an array of variations. 

All Chinook salmon die after spawning (semelparous). 

"Stream-type" Chinook salmon spend one year as fry or parr 

in fresh water before migrating to the sea. Typically, this type 

will return to their natal river in the spring or summer several 

months prior to spawning. 

"Ocean-type" Chinook salmon migrate to sea during their first 

year of life, normally within three months after emergence from 

the river gravel, and return to their natal river in the fall shortly 

before spawning. 

The length of adults varies from 58 to 89 cm, or larger. The 

typical weight range of the Chinook salmon is 4.5 to 22.5 kg. 

How to distinguish the ocean phase: Chinook salmon have 

small round black spots on the back and both lobes of the tail fin 

and black color along the base of the teeth in the lower jaw. Meat 

color is pink, although some Chinook salmon have white meat 

due to the difference in how they process pigments in the food 

they consume. The meat is quite firm and has a relatively high fat 

content compared to chum and pink salmon. 


English 

Japanese 

Korean 

Russian 

Oncorhynchus tshawytscha 

Chinook salmon 

Other common names: King salmon, 

Spring salmon, Blackmouth, Tyee 

マスノスケ (Masunosuke) 

왕연어 (Wangyeoneo) 

Чавыча (Tshawytscha) 


Cherry Salmon 

Cherry salmon originate only in Asia. Most of them mature at 

three or four years of age, after spending one or more years 

in rivers and one winter in the ocean. All anadromous cherry 

salmon die after spawning (semelparous). 

They return to the natal river in March–May, spend the 

summer in the river, and move to headwaters for spawning in 

the fall. 

The size of adults varies greatly, generally 50 cm or more in 

length and 2–2.5 Kg or more in weight. 

How to distinguish the ocean phase: Cherry salmon most 

closely resemble coho salmon. Cherry salmon have small black 

spots on the back and a dark underlying hue under its silvery 

scales. The meat is bright red and has a firm texture, and it is 

more moist and fatty than coho salmon. 


English 

Japanese 

Korean 

Russian 

Oncorhynchus masou 

Cherry salmon 

サクラマス (Sakuramasu) 


マス (Masu salmon) 

시마연어 (Simayeoneo) 

Сима (Sima) 

Steelhead Trout 

Steelhead trout is the anadromous form of rainbow trout. 

Steelhead trout originate both North America and Asia. Most 

steelhead remain in freshwater for 2–3 years, spend 2–3 years 

in the ocean, and return to the natal river to spawn. Some 

steelhead may spawn more than once (iteroparous). 

Typical sizes of adults range 50–58 cm in length and 1.4–6.8 

Kg in weight. 

How to distinguish the ocean phase: Steelhead trout have 

small black spots present on the head, back, and tail fin. Silver 

marking on the tail is confined to the center area. The head 

is relatively small and the tail relatively large as compared to 

Pacific salmon. The tail is not forked. Meat is light pink and the 

texture is firm. 


English 

Japanese 

Korean 

Russian 

Oncorhynchus mykiss 

Steelhead trout 

スチールヘッド・トラウト (Steelhead) 

무지개송어 (Steelhead Songeo) 

Стальноголовая форель, микижа 

(Raduzhnaya forel) 

Images of salmon species credit: Leman, V.N., and E.V. Esin. 2008. Illustrated guide on salmonid fishes of Kamchatka. Moscow: VNIRO. 

http://www.knigakamchatka.ru/ref/animal/opredelitel-ryb-kamchatka.html 


How Atlantic Salmon is Different from Pacific Salmon 

Atlantic salmon is one species Salmo salar. (Pacific salmon comprise six species.) 

Prior to introductions by humans, Atlantic salmon historical distribution is the North Atlantic, breeding in rivers of Western Europe, 

Iceland, Greenland, and the East coast of North America. 

Atlantic salmon is iteroparous, unlike Pacific salmon which is semelparous. Iteroparous means that Atlantic salmon, like 

steelhead, can survive spawning, return to the ocean, and repeat the migration to freshwater and spawn more than once. 

Ocean-run Atlantic salmon have large conspicuous black spots above the lateral line, and on the top and sides of the head on the 

gill cover. (Pacific salmon do not have black spots on the gill cover.) 

The North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organization is the international organization responsible for the conservation, 

restoration, and national management of wild Atlantic salmon stocks (NASCO; www.nasco.int) 

Wild Atlantic salmon catch comprises less than 0.1% of farmed Atlantic salmon harvest while wild Pacific salmon catch exceeds 

farmed Pacific salmon production (mostly coho and Chinook) by more than 5 times. 

Photo credit: Vladimir Radchenko 


II. 4. Scientific Research 

The goal of the NPAFC Convention is conservation of anadromous populations in the North Pacific Ocean. To achieve this goal, 

the Commission needs the best available scientific information on the condition of anadromous populations, ecologically related 

species, and their marine ecosystems. Thus, the Commission’s mission in scientific research is to promote the acquisition, analysis, 

and dissemination of scientific information pertaining to anadromous populations and ecologically related species in the ocean; 

to coordinate efforts to conserve anadromous populations in the ocean; and to establish an effective mechanism of international 

cooperation to promote the conservation of anadromous populations in the ocean. 

Over the past several decades, there have been significant variations in the marine production of Asian and North American 

anadromous salmon populations that are linked to climate change. There is a strong need for international cooperative research 

that provides better scientific information on the ecological mechanisms regulating production of anadromous populations, climate 

impacts on Pacific salmon populations, and the utility of using salmon populations as indicators of conditions in North Pacific marine 

ecosystems. 

For those purposes, the Commission established the CSRS, which usually holds its meetings during the annual meetings of the 

Commission. Scientists may also meet between annual meetings, symposia and workshops. 

At CSRS, the Parties submit their scientific research plans for salmon and they report on results of their previous scientific 

research, catch data, and fry, juvenile, and smolt releases, and discuss cooperation research among the Parties. Science Sub- 

Committee (SSC) and several Working Groups have been established under CSRS in order to facilitate its discussions for cooperation. 

SSC formulates and reviews the implementation of the NPAFC Science Plan, which is a long-term plan for cooperative scientific 

research. At the 2016 Annual Meeting, the CSRS considered the 2016–2020 NPAFC Science Plan drafted by the Science Sub- 

Committee (Doc. 1665). The 2016–2020 NPAFC Science Plan is aligned to a large extent with the proposed International Year of the 

Salmon (IYS) program (2016–2022), but there are differences due to the greater geographic extent and additional salmonid species 

within the IYS initiatives. The NPAFC Science Plan has five research themes: 

○○ 

Status of Pacific salmon and steelhead trout; 

○○ 

Pacific salmon and steelhead trout in a changing North Pacific Ocean; 

○○ 

New technologies; 

○○ 

Management systems; and 

○○ 

Integrated information systems. 

Relevant approaches to cooperative research under the Science Plan will include collection and synthesis of existing data and 

associated metadata to generate and test specific hypotheses, integration of ecological monitoring programs in the ocean using 

research vessels and/or remote sensing, conceptual and quantitative modeling, process-oriented field and laboratory studies, and 

retrospective analyses. Scientific results from cooperative studies will progressively reduce major gaps in knowledge with respect to 

the research themes, as well as make significant contributions to the IYS initiative in collaboration with other partners including PICES 

and NASCO. New scientific information will also contribute to effective enforcement activities by member nations to protect Pacific 

salmon from illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing in the Convention Area. 

The CSRS also coordinates cooperation with other international organizations, such as the North Atlantic Salmon Conservation 

Organization (NASCO), North Pacific Fisheries Commission (NPFC), North Pacific Marine Science Organization (PICES), Pacific 

Salmon Commission (PSC), and others. 

Five working groups functioned within the CSRS till the 2016 Annual Meeting. The Working Group on Stock Assessment (WGSA) 

meets mainly to summarize and discuss the latest statistical information on Pacific salmon catches and hatchery releases. In 2016, 

the group corresponded by e-mail in advance of the Annual Meeting in an order to develop work plans for the year. Two potential 

future tasks were identified for the working group: 

(a) 

(b) 

Review of biological trait information and biological status based on key salmon streams; 

Update the comprehensive overview on Pacific salmon and steelhead trout stock status. 

The WGSA discussed the information requirements to report on biological trait information and biological status based on key 

populations, and identified many existing programs collect biological information on salmonid populations. 


The Working Group on Salmon Marking (WGSM) discusses coordination of otolith marks to minimize duplication in marking 

patterns among countries and development of a common database of mark releases. In 2016, countries continued to download their 

thermal marking and release information to the online Otolith Mark Database. These data are accessible to all users through the 

NPAFC website. Although entry of thermal mark images into the database typically lags behind entry of mark release information, all 

countries have made a significant effort to update the image archive. 

The Salmon Tagging Working Group (WGST) coordinated high-seas salmon tagging activities and provides tag recovery 

information to the Secretariat, who manages the INPFC/NPAFC High-Seas Salmonid Tag-Recovery Database. In 2016, WGST 

suggested that they be merged with the WGSM because the number of high-seas tag releases is decreasing while archival tagging is 

still important to migration studies under the proposed new Science Plan. A working group should regularly discuss this item. The 

WGST and WGSM goals are practically the same: to increase knowledge on stock-specific ocean distribution and migration required 

for stock and fishery management. During discussion within the both groups, members unanimously agreed it would be a good idea 

to merge them, and the Commission adopted this decision. 

The goals of the Working Group on Stock Identification (WGSI) are to develop, standardize, and disseminate genetic and other 

databases among the Parties to encourage the development of new genetic technologies and to facilitate the dissemination of 

statistical techniques. Sometimes, the WGSI members are requested to determine Pacific salmon origin from samples collected from 

apprehended IUU fishing vessels. In 2016, the group reviewed stock identification research and genetic baseline activities, further 

update of genetic sampling protocols, and started discussing the statistical methods supporting individual assignment (where one 

fish is identified to a specific stock) versus mixture analysis (where percentages of a mixture of fish are identified to specific stocks). 

The recently organized the International Year of the Salmon (IYS) initiative developed and agreed Terms of Reference in 2016. At 

the Annual Meeting, the group discussed the IYS governance including the NPAFC participation in the IYS Coordinating Committee 

and formation of an IYS North Pacific Steering Committee, and the 2018 Symposium issues. The IYS WG submitted a request for 

funding to the Committee on Finance and Administration for two years of resources to cover costs related to development of the IYS 

brand/logo and website, supporting IYS North Pacific Research Planning and Coordinating Meeting in 2017. 

In December 2016, a book of proceedings of the 2015 NPAFC International Symposium on Pacific Salmon and Steelhead 

Production in a Changing Climate: Past, Present, and Future (May 17–19, 2015, Kobe, Japan) was published as the NPAFC Bulletin No. 

6. This Bulletin is a compilation of 37 papers presented at the International Symposium and one review article that reviews the NPAFC 

2011–2015 Science Plan. Several scientific articles and reviews were published in the semi-annual Newsletter issues Nos. 39 and 

40. This includes a topical article Forecasting Sake no Mirai by Skip McKinnell, new article in a series of biological monitoring of key 

salmon population – on the Namdae River chum salmon (Kang et al., 2016), and introductory article to the IYS by Mark Saunders. 

Photo credit: Kentaro Morita. Japanese Wild Salmon Research: Toward a Reconciliation Between Hatchery and Wild Salmon 

Management // NPAFC Newsletter, #35. P. 4-14. 

http://www.npafc.org/new/publications/Newsletter/NL35/Newsletter35.pdf 


II. 5. Enforcement in 2016 

The Convention prohibits direct fishing for anadromous fish (chum, coho, pink, sockeye, Chinook, cherry salmon, and steelhead 

trout) in the Convention Area. The incidental taking of anadromous fish should be minimized to the maximum extent practicable 

while retention of anadromous fish taken incidentally during fishing activity directed at non-anadromous fish is prohibited. Any 

anadromous fish caught incidentally shall be returned immediately to the sea. 

The Convention has contributed to the implementation of the UN General Assembly resolution entitled “Large-scale pelagic 

drift-net fishing and its impact on the living marine resources of the world’s oceans and seas” (A/RES/44/225 of 22 December 1989) 

by prohibiting direct fishing for anadromous fish in the North Pacific high seas, where salmon fishing had been conducted using 

driftnets. 

Since the establishment of NPAFC, the Parties have cooperated by exchanging information regarding violation of the provisions of 

the Convention and enforcement plans and actions. 

Agencies of the Contracting Parties directly responsible for the planning and execution of enforcement activities within the 

Convention Area are the following: 

○○ 

Department of Fisheries and Oceans and Department of National Defence, Canada; 

○○ 

Fisheries Agency of Japan and Japan Coast Guard; 

○○ 

Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries of the Republic of Korea; 

○○ 

Fisheries Agency of the Russian Federation and Russian Federal Border Service; and 

○○ 

United States National Marine Fisheries Service and United States Coast Guard 

More than four million square miles of the North Pacific Ocean are monitored by efforts of the NPAFC Member countries every 

year, with more than 100 days of ship and 500 hours of aerial patrols and the use of radar satellite surveillance. These cooperative 

NPAFC activities serve as a good example for non-member countries to follow, and some of them do by contributing enforcement 

efforts among their national flag vessels and report this information to the Commission. 

In 1993–2016, the cooperative enforcement efforts of the NPAFC Parties resulted in the detection of 49 vessels conducting 

directed driftnet fishing operations for salmon in the Convention Area. Of those vessels, 20 were apprehended (see the table). 

Table 1. Statistics of detection and apprehension of vessels conducting directed driftnet fishing operations for salmon in the 

NPAFC Convention Area by the enforcement agencies of Contracting Parties, 1993–2016. 

Number of detected/apprehended vessels 

Year 

1993 

1994 

1995 

1996 

1997 

1998 

1999 

2000 

2001 

2002 

2003 

2004 

2005 

2006 

2007 

2008 

2009 

2010 

2011 

2012 

2013 

2014 

2015 

2016 

Total 

Detections 6 1 3 1 6 9 11 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 2 2 1 0 1 0 2 49 

Apprehension 2 0 1 1 2 4 3 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 20 

In 2016, a suspicious fishing vessel under the People’s Republic of China flag was sighted by Fisheries Agency of Japan patrol 

vessel to be equipped with driftnet gear (net tube, rollers) and carried radio buoys used for driftnets within the Convention Area. A 

refrigerated cargo ship was sighted by the U.S. Coast Guard patrol aircraft unflagged and with vessel name painted out within the 

NPAFC Convention Area in the Bering Sea. The Committee on Enforcement considered an expanding of enforcement activities by 

directing investigation efforts towards transshipment vessels/suppliers. 

The Committee on Enforcement conducted one face-to-face and a few electronic meetings. The committee members conducted 

an e-mail Joint Patrol Schedule Meeting on February 29 –March 3, 2016 to review the combined schedule of ship and aircraft patrols 

to ensure broad coverage in the Convention Area. A one-day face-to-face meeting ENFO meeting was conducted during the 24th 

NPAFC Annual Meeting in Busan. During the patrol season, the ENFO Parties participated in ten biweekly e-mail conferences to 

exchange information on results and plans for patrolling the Convention Area (see in details in Section VI. The Commission’s activities 

after the 24th Annual Meeting) 


II. 6. Statistics 

The time series of catch and hatchery release statistics are a useful new tool for researchers interested in Pacific salmon and 

steelhead production under conditions of changing ocean climate and ecosystems. In this Report, all statistical data presentation is 

based on the NPAFC data files content that was first compiled in 2014 and verified in 2015–2016. 

Commercial catch and hatchery release statistics are available for all the Commission member countries. Sport and subsistence 

catch data are available for Canada, Russia, and USA. Depending on the reporting area, some catch statistics are available for the 

period starting in 1925 and some hatchery release statistics are available starting from 1952. The last year reported in the data files is 

2015. For the latest statistics (preliminary), a request should be sent to the NPAFC Secretariat. 

An updated metadata document “NPAFC Statistics: Description of Pacific Salmonid Catch and Hatchery Release Data Files” 

describing data sources and data file organization is available online (http://www.npafc.org/new/science/Statistics/StatisticsWeb/ 

Metadata_29March2016.pdf). 

Commercial Salmon Catch 

The average annual total catch of Pacific salmon and steelhead trout by the NPAFC member countries between 1993 and 2016 

was 907,974 metric tonnes (mt). While the world capture fisheries harvest estimates are still unavailable, Pacific salmon represented 

1.3% (by weight) of marine capture fishery harvest in 2015 (81.2 million tonnes). 

In the last five even-numbered years, Pacific salmon and steelhead trout commercial catch by the NPAFC member countries varied 

between 767,702 and 914,803 mt, while it consistently exceeded 1 million mt in the last five odd-numbered years. That is mostly due 

to increased abundance of pink salmon, whose harvest values exceeded 500,000 tons in four recent odd-numbered years besides 

2015, and ranged 307,215 - 413,399 mt in the last five even-numbered years. 

In 2016, the total Pacific salmon catch was 436,861 thousand fish or 852,897 mt. Commercial catch value in 2016 occurred similar 

to the 2014 catch. There were more pink salmon (264,478 vs 207,850 thousand fish) while average weight of pink salmon was smaller 

(1.335 vs 1.478 kg). Average fish weight of sockeye salmon occurred to be less than in 2014 by 133 g, chum salmon – by 165 g. There 

was all-time record in proportion of salmon catch by Russia from the total salmon catch: 63.4% by numbers and 51.5% by weight. 

Russian catch exceeded 50% of total (by weight) for the first time. Chum salmon catch in Canada was highest since 2004, sockeye 

salmon – the third lowest since 1924. In the United States, pink salmon catch was the lowest one since 1978. 

Juvenile salmon hatchery releases remained rather stable by countries as well as by salmon species, with some downward trend in 

last 3 years. In 2016, number of released salmon juveniles decreased by about 170 million fish after the historical high in 2014. Chum 

salmon portion in total releases first exceeded 65% of total released juveniles in 2016. 

Please refer to Tables 2-7 and Figures 1-6 for annual commercial catch of salmon and steelhead trout in number of fish and weight 

in tonnes by country and species, 1993-2016. These tables and figures are based on the NPAFC statistics files that are available on 

the Commission’s website (until 2015). 


Table 2. Annual commercial catch of salmon and steelhead trout by country in thousands of fish, 1993–2016. 

Year Total Canada Japan Republic of Korea Russia United States 

1993 416,087 34,916 76,125 111 104,818 200,117 

1994 424,488 21,009 78,000 118 125,589 199,772 

1995 458,584 20,678 84,556 131 129,874 223,345 

1996 397,339 14,951 101,099 198 102,888 178,204 

1997 385,560 20,669 80,676 217 156,116 127,881 

1998 416,073 9,392 70,260 158 182,427 153,836 

1999 461,025 8,067 58,890 114 175,914 218,040 

2000 341,210 8,757 59,106 17 133,315 140,016 

2001 405,247 11,357 67,249 44 147,560 179,037 

2002 314,039 12,915 67,465 60 97,926 135,674 

2003 432,810 17,259 83,163 38 149,301 183,049 

2004 348,252 9,043 78,478 29 88,678 172,024 

2005 495,102 11,889 75,504 23 182,960 224,726 

2006 391,001 8,165 70,498 45 168,625 143,668 

2007 518,080 8,805 80,052 92 213,230 215,901 

2008 348,689 1,692 58,033 84 140,926 147,954 

2009 606,547 11,163 70,573 50 355,043 169,718 

2010 423,122 11,460 54,205 49 181,483 175,925 

2011 608,180 9,731 46,029 28 367,770 184,622 

2012 463,575 3,013 43,081 35 287,211 130,234 

2013 586,039 14,527 52,326 97 226,573 292,516 

2014 388,852 14,837 43,278 153 168,553 162,031 

2015 506,804 5,432 41,585 156 187,872 271,759 

2016 436,861 6,267 38,427 85 276,975 115,107 

Mean 93-16 440,565 12,333 65,777 89 181,318 181,048 

% 93-16 100.00 2.80 14.93 0.02 41.16 41.09 

Note: 2006–2016 catches do not include catch by foreign fleets operating in the Russian EEZ. 

600 

Total Commercial Catch 

Millions of fish 

500 

400 

300 

200 

100 

US 

Russia 

Korea 

Japan 

Canada 

0 

93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 

Year 

Fig. 1. Annual commercial catch of salmon and steelhead trout by country in millions of fish, 1993–2016. 


Table 3. Annual commercial catch of salmon and steelhead trout by country in tonnes (round weight), 1993–2016. 


1993 874,660 92,357 208,806 299 170,235 402,963 

1994 887,891 71,392 221,102 341 186,685 408,371 

1995 991,744 52,838 253,111 358 218,429 467,008 

1996 914,124 36,513 296,549 538 176,272 404,251 

1997 846,813 50,394 251,739 553 244,793 299,333 

1998 812,625 32,075 202,845 394 246,136 331,175 

1999 848,536 18,057 174,324 285 242,086 413,784 

2000 728,581 20,488 164,736 51 210,554 332,753 

2001 837,026 28,758 209,680 107 232,243 366,238 

2002 743,243 38,485 217,936 170 183,515 303,136 

2003 940,063 42,405 280,781 115 237,157 379,605 

2004 835,887 30,457 253,857 97 167,843 383,634 

2005 986,368 31,811 239,246 55 266,375 448,881 

2006 871,084 26,902 222,662 102 275,254 346,164 

2007 1,039,495 21,878 227,088 239 348,706 441,585 

2008 767,702 5,848 172,041 220 260,324 329,269 

2009 1,137,689 20,440 218,311 134 551,512 347,292 

2010 914,803 30,304 172,034 139 326,582 385,743 

2011 1,055,590 25,979 142,480 73 505,971 381,088 

2012 888,109 10,036 128,049 72 439,617 310,336 

2013 1,111,204 29,926 164,458 222 405,884 510,714 

2014 866,392 37,698 144,281 437 338,303 345,673 

2015 1,038,848 17,545 136,613 488 368,568 514,634 

2016 852,897 21,489 111,269 256 439,469 280,414 

Mean 93-16 907,974 33,086 200,583 239 293,438 380,585 

% 93-16 100.00 3.64 22.09 0.03 32.32 41.92 

Note: 2006–2016 catches do not include by foreign fleets operating in the Russian EEZ. 

1200 


Thousand tonnes 

1000 

800 

600 

400 

200 

0 

939495969798990001020304050607080910111213141516 

Year 

US 

Russia 

Korea 

Japan 

Canada 

Fig. 2. Annual commercial catch of salmon and steelhead trout by country in thousands of tonnes (round weight), 1993–2016. 


Table 4. Annual commercial catch of salmon and steelhead trout by species in thousands of fish, 1993–2016. 

Year Total Sockeye Pink Chum Coho Chinook Steelhead Cherry 

1993 416,087 93,188 224,274 87,099 9,209 2,179 61 76 

1994 424,488 70,917 243,387 94,809 13,481 1,732 49 114 

1995 458,584 75,693 263,255 108,160 9,354 2,050 43 28 

1996 397,339 65,134 205,389 116,504 8,744 1,485 54 29 

1997 385,560 50,540 226,673 101,772 4,503 2,014 50 9 

1998 416,073 30,751 286,421 91,596 5,766 1,401 43 95 

1999 461,025 51,848 319,400 82,916 5,546 1,274 29 12 

2000 341,210 44,387 207,762 81,998 5,670 1,340 42 11 

2001 405,247 36,854 270,156 90,721 6,400 1,043 55 20 

2002 314,039 36,948 182,420 86,043 6,428 2,152 35 15 

2003 432,810 41,375 282,418 101,152 5,602 2,211 33 17 

2004 348,252 53,929 182,676 101,598 7,189 2,419 39 402 

2005 495,102 52,228 345,498 89,248 6,083 1,990 36 19 

2006 391,001 55,477 226,063 101,717 5,419 1,401 31 894 

2007 518,080 59,023 351,592 99,141 5,543 1,378 58 1,345 

2008 348,689 49,813 202,267 88,288 6,251 875 37 1,157 

2009 606,547 54,301 436,197 107,390 6,291 1,061 61 1,246 

2010 423,122 65,472 259,069 90,777 6,334 1,391 70 9 

2011 608,180 55,918 458,963 84,778 6,899 1,566 50 6 

2012 463,575 54,606 305,231 96,578 5,663 1,463 26 8 

2013 586,039 49,611 418,265 106,420 10,122 1,575 39 7 

2014 388,852 68,896 207,850 97,152 12,655 2,223 70 5 

2015 506,804 74,278 313,200 108,198 9,055 2,004 62 5 

2016 436,861 75,186 264,478 88,381 7,304 1,453 52 6 

Mean 93-16 440,565 56,932 278,454 95,935 7,313 1,653 47 231 

% 93-16 100.00 12.92 63.20 21.78 1.66 0.38 0.01 0.05 

Note: 2006–2016 catches do not include catch by foreign fleets operating in the Russian EEZ; 1993–2001 catches do not include catch by Korea; 

the count of cherry salmon is underestimated. 


600 


500 

400 

300 

200 

100 

0 

93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 

Year 

Cherry 

Steelhead 

Chinook 

Coho 

Chum 

Pink 

Sockeye 

Fig 3. Annual commercial catch of salmon and steelhead trout by species in millions of fish, 1993–2016. 


Table 5. Annual commercial catch of salmon and steelhead trout by species in tonnes (round weight), 1993–2016. 


1993 874,660 245,998 305,476 279,843 25,905 15,631 264 1,543 

1994 887,891 185,004 323,188 317,972 46,354 13,482 197 1,694 

1995 991,744 191,620 392,533 360,938 30,977 14,107 166 1,403 

1996 914,124 182,965 288,786 401,616 28,455 10,413 213 1,677 

1997 846,813 133,452 338,678 345,341 14,456 13,703 194 990 

1998 812,625 77,787 388,726 314,525 19,916 9,764 177 1,731 

1999 848,536 127,180 408,974 286,490 15,829 8,813 120 1,129 

2000 728,581 121,730 293,911 284,725 18,640 8,473 148 954 

2001 837,026 107,818 388,582 309,357 21,097 9,172 222 777 

2002 743,243 103,198 277,280 324,278 22,496 14,707 149 1,135 

2003 940,063 112,888 421,099 370,228 19,084 15,393 144 1,226 

2004 835,887 143,260 294,107 356,653 24,219 16,566 158 924 

2005 986,368 145,443 489,518 317,816 19,036 13,600 0 955 

2006 871,084 145,900 333,998 361,564 18,216 10,206 0 1,199 

2007 1,039,495 158,759 525,286 327,682 16,968 9,113 188 1,499 

2008 767,702 131,503 309,652 296,293 21,992 6,667 212 1,382 

2009 1,137,689 146,250 604,299 359,306 20,015 6,328 169 1,322 

2010 914,803 172,924 398,509 313,865 20,918 6,915 202 1,470 

2011 1,055,590 150,511 595,075 279,608 19,735 8,962 194 1,506 

2012 888,109 143,657 413,399 306,103 16,024 7,912 144 871 

2013 1,111,204 133,625 590,369 345,593 30,605 9,556 155 1,302 

2014 866,392 176,966 307,215 329,591 39,168 12,447 189 816 

2015 1,038848 182,455 461,557 355,872 27,814 10,358 212 579 

2016 852,897 183,135 353,184 285,272 22,411 7,517 182 1,196 

Mean 93-16 907,974 150,168 395,975 326,272 23,347 10,825 167 1,220 

% 93-16 100.00 16.54 43.61 35.93 2.57 1.19 0.02 0.13 

Note: 2006–2016 catches do not include catch by foreign fleets operating in the Russian EEZ; yearly totals from 1993 to 2013 include Korean 

catches. 

1200 


Thousand tonnes 

1000 

800 

600 

400 

200 

0 

939495969798990001020304050607080910111213141516 

Year 

Cherry 

Steelhead 

Chinook 

Coho 

Chum 

Pink 

Sockeye 

Fig. 4. Annual commercial catch of salmon and steelhead trout by species in thousands of tonnes (round weight), 1993–2016. 


Table 6. Annual hatchery releases of salmon and steelhead trout by country in millions of fish, 1993–2016. 


1993 5,068,293 527,021 2,115,886 14,660 531,507 1,879,219 

1994 4,876,899 481,901 2,208,415 16,110 458,718 1,711,755 

1995 4,979,591 405,820 2,153,425 15,800 488,609 1,915,937 

1996 5,138,010 297,314 2,165,182 15,850 626,561 2,033,103 

1997 4,872,642 451,683 2,076,990 16,340 618,718 1,708,912 

1998 4,817,396 335,529 2,029,858 19,410 616,587 1,816,012 

1999 4,795,031 397,640 2,025,782 21,500 566,449 1,783,660 

2000 4,783,789 335,223 1,972,179 19,000 669,733 1,787,655 

2001 4,667,963 287,041 1,988,137 5,620 590,377 1,796,788 

2002 4,988,461 437,196 2,008,659 10,450 688,070 1,844,086 

2003 4,931,758 424,447 1,998,032 14,735 616,089 1,878,456 

2004 5,117,702 455,685 1,977,206 12,930 685,845 1,986,036 

2005 4,920,532 418,860 2,004,423 11,258 684,097 1,801,895 

2006 4,805,272 364,644 2,003,373 7,358 676,393 1,753,504 

2007 5,179,339 377,272 2,036,216 13,796 843,154 1,908,901 

2008 5,104,826 326,237 2,033,461 16,574 927,821 1,800,733 

2009 4,959,682 300,241 1,974,132 5,853 901,674 1,777,782 

2010 5,256,882 313,740 2,011,448 17,194 1,033,530 1,880,970 

2011 4,530,898 343,178 1,359,109 20,900 935,231 1,872,480 

2012 5,026,540 315,174 1,794,400 7,630 906,495 2,003,125 

2013 4,964,721 291,262 1,728,521 9,710 1,039,059 1,896,170 

2014 5,311,041 240,370 1,903,024 28,250 1,062,358 2,077,040 

2015 5,162,402 294,758 1,874,339 27,650 1,023,334 1,942,321 

2016 5,128,128 281,718 1,897,917 21,950 967,278 1,959,267 

Mean 93-16 4,974,470 362,644 1,972,505 15,439 756,570 1,867,325 

% 93-16 100.00 7.29 39.65 0.31 14.82 37.54 

6000 

Total Hatchery Releases 

Million fish 

5000 

4000 

3000 

2000 

1000 

0 

939495969798990001020304050607080910111213141516 

Year 

US 

Russia 

Korea 

Japan 

Canada 

Fig. 5. Annual hatchery releases of salmon and steelhead trout by country in millions of fish, 1993–2016. 


Table 7. Annual hatchery releases of salmon and steelhead by species in millions of fish, 1993–2016. 


1993 5,068,293.5 300,572 1,365,381 2,943,437 122,403 289,037 30,112 17,351 

1994 4,876,899.2 269,295 1,216,758 2,941,606 113,659 291,930 28,936 14,716 

1995 4,979,591.3 211,427 1,300,905 2,992,948 110,106 321,747 29,357 13,101 

1996 5,138,009.7 147,840 1,486,612 3,038,969 120,119 301,877 25,830 16,763 

1997 4,872,641.9 337,296 1,229,944 2,870,620 106,463 282,690 27,779 17,849 

1998 4,817,395.4 154,765 1,370,802 2,855,106 102,547 290,037 28,940 15,199 

1999 4,795,031.1 212,627 1,302,098 2,862,337 108,981 266,158 26,795 16,035 

2000 4,783,789.0 184,795 1,372,090 2,839,454 98,848 249,089 23,923 15,590 

2001 4,667,962.9 197,866 1,368,425 2,716,143 98,189 246,422 26,588 14,331 

2002 4,988,460.7 317,200 1,453,194 2,813,583 96,904 267,891 26,029 13,659 

2003 4,931,758.6 320,843 1,358,765 2,848,431 91,965 271,029 23,774 16,951 

2004 5,117,701.6 376,046 1,421,126 2,914,816 99,107 261,499 24,896 20,211 

2005 4,920,531.8 296,256 1,244,011 2,995,944 87,705 259,983 23,703 12,931 

2006 4,805,271.9 249,820 1,306,604 2,875,871 79,899 253,444 24,878 14,758 

2007 5,179,338.8 266,585 1,425,978 3,087,684 86,084 272,085 24,419 16,504 

2008 5,104,825.4 253,667 1,388,517 3,083,805 84,166 253,829 25,788 15,052 

2009 4,959,682.0 228,749 1,333,956 3,014,869 84,361 257,344 24,722 15,681 

2010 5,256,882.0 241,268 1,445,183 3,177,015 88,126 265,602 23,468 16,220 

2011 4,530,898.3 299,441 1,383,926 2,467,317 86,339 259,154 22,487 12,234 

2012 5,026,824.4 221,990 1,337,283 3,095,268 80,951 256,443 22,223 12,666 

2013 4,964,721.6 229,243 1,254,192 3,113,749 82,858 250,541 21,863 12,275 

2014 5,311,041 180,928 1,509,085 3,251,879 80,331 239,480 22,825 12,538 

2015 5,162,402 267,662 1,364,528 3,202,848 72,470 224,273 21,492 9,130 

2016 5,128,130 220,061 1,226,893 3,339,680 75,742 237,930 19,848 7,976 

Mean 93-16 4,973,921 249,427 1,352,761 2,972,641 94,097 265,396 25,028 14,572 

% 93-16 100.00 5.01 27.20 59.76 1.89 5.34 0.50 0.29 

6000 

Total Hatchery Releases 


5000 

4000 

3000 

2000 

1000 

0 

939495969798990001020304050607080910111213141516 

Year 

Cherry 

Steelhead 

Chinook 

Coho 

Chum 

Pink 

Sockeye 

Fig. 6. Annual hatchery releases of salmon and steelhead by species in millions of fish, 1993–2016. 



III. The 2016 IYS Scoping Meeting 



III. The 2016 IYS Scoping Meeting 

Following an international scoping workshop in 2015, the NPAFC IYS Study Group (IYS-SG) developed an International Year of the 

Salmon (IYS) proposal. At the 2015 NPAFC Annual Meeting in Kobe, Japan, Committee on Scientific Research and Statistics (CSRS) 

endorsed this proposal and the Commission unanimously approved it. 

In Kobe, the NPAFC agreed that the IYS will be an intensive (2018-2019) burst of internationally coordinated, interdisciplinary, 

stimulating scientific research focused on salmon, and their relation to people. The total seven year time frame would include 

planning stage in 2016, start-up in 2017, a peak of research designated as the Year of the Salmon in 2018/19 with research completed, 

written up and legacy infrastructure in place by 2022. Geographically the scope under consideration is the salmosphere that was 

defined as the current and future geographic range of salmon in the Subarctic and Arctic Ocean. The IYS proposal would support 

research under five broad scientific themes: status of salmon, salmon in a changing salmon, human dimension, and information 

systems and envisages working with key partners to further develop the initiative. New technologies, observations, analytical 

methods and analyses will address knowledge gaps that prevent a clear understanding of the future of salmon in a rapidly changing 

world. 

The IYS proposal anticipated interest and participation in the concept from beyond the Pacific Ocean so a newly established 

International Year of the Salmon Working Group (IYS-WG) was tasked to organize second scoping meeting in early 2016. It shall 

explore greater participation by potential partners and funders and, then, to revise the IYS strategy accordingly. North Atlantic 

Salmon Conservation Organization (NASCO) initially considered as a prospective reliable partner in the IYS initiative implementation. 

III. 1. Time and Place of the Meeting 

To find a venue for the 2nd Scoping Meeting, the Secretariat requested quotes from ten hotels in downtown Vancouver and 

inspected two of them as well as a reception venue at the Vancouver Aquarium. Finally, the Metropolitan Hotel Vancouver was 

selected. The Secretariat negotiated and defined in the contracts room and equipment rentals. Three more contracts were prepared 

and signed with the meeting coordinator, facilitator, and rapporteur. 

The Secretariat staff drafted invitation letters for different groups of scoping meeting participants. Seventy-nine invitations were 

issued in accordance with the list of agreed-upon invitees and 42 of them were accepted. Many invitees were contacted by phone 

and e-mail to confirm their attendance. Travel and/or hotel arrangements were made for five participants, who were supported by the 

Commission. 

The IYS-WG Chairman Mark Saunders has regularly informed the WG members on the initiative implementation progress since 

July 2, 2015. He convened 21 conference calls and face-to-face meetings, maintained e-mail communication within WG, and prepared 

a work plan, draft briefing notes, agenda, and timeline for the second scoping meeting. 

Two IYS web pages on the NPAFC website were regularly updated by the Secretariat. In the public area, the IYS web page 

introduces the IYS initiative, proposal approved by the Commission, the Working Group members, and gives information on the 

upcoming scoping meeting. According to Google Analytics data, this web page was visited 51-56 times in November-December 

2015, 76 in January, and 119 in February 2016. In the Members’ Area, another IYS web page lists downloads of the working 

documents to support the IYS WG communications. 

The Second IYS Scoping Meeting was convened in Vancouver on March 15-16, 2016. Secretariat staff and 49 experts in Pacific 

salmon and marine sciences, fisheries management, and international project organization from all NPAFC member countries, 

including invited NASCO representatives participated in facilitated discussions to develop the IYS implementation strategy. 

The NASCO delegation participated in the scoping meeting with presentations on their SALSEA ocean studies, further plans in 

development of salmon telemetry tagging networks, and their vision of the IYS initiative implementation. The main objectives of 

the workshop included seeking views on its themes, phases and timelines; further identifying partners and considering how other 

interested organizations and groups may be effectively engaged; and outlining possible governance arrangements and capacity 

requirements. Outcomes from this workshop allowed establishing working committees to follow-up: 


○○ 

Developing a public engagement and outreach approach; 

○○ 

Identifying and securing organization capacity and support; 

○○ 

Developing a funding strategy; and 

○○ 

Developing and agreeing to a business model. 

U.S. NOAA through the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission and the North Pacific Research Board co-sponsored the IYS 

Scoping Meeting. Fisheries and Oceans Canada supported preparation by giving a phone conference line and contracting the 

meeting rapporteur. March 17, 2016, has been reserved as an IYS WG meeting so the members could compile their thoughts in how to 

move forward and present their results to the Commission at the 24th Annual Meeting in Busan. The scoping meeting outcome was 

then presented at the First Plenary session of the 2016 Annual Meeting. 

III. 2. Participants 

Participants at the International Year of the Salmon Scoping Workshop (March 15–16, 2016) listed in alphabetical order of the last 

name. 

Name Title Organization City & Country 

1. Dick Beamish Emeritus Pacific Biological Station, Fisheries and Oceans Canada Nanaimo, Canada 

2. David Carlson Director World Climate Research Programme (WCRP) Geneva, Switzerland 

3. Villy Christensen Professor Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries, the University of Vancouver, Canada 

British Columbia 

4. Nancy Davis Deputy Director North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission (NPAFC) Vancouver, Canada 

5. Andrew Day Vice President and EDr Coastal Ocean Research Institute, Vancouver Aquarium Vancouver, Canada 

Marine Science Centre 

6. Karen Dunmall PhD Student University of Manitoba, Salmon in the Canadian Arctic Winnipeg, Canada 

7. John Field Executive Secretary Pacific Salmon Commission (PSC) Vancouver, Canada 

8. Randy Fisher Executive Director Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission (PSMFC) Portland, USA 

9. Rupert Gale Fisheries Program 

The Ritchie Foundation 

Campbell River, Canada 

Manager 

10. Joel Harding Quantitative Ecologist & InStream Fisheries Research 

Vancouver, Canada 

Project Manager 

11. Brian Hunt Research Associate Hakai Institute/ the UBC Department of Earth, Ocean, and Vancouver, Canada 

Atmospheric Sciences 

12. Peter Hutchinson Secretary North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organization (NASCO) Edinburgh, UK 

13. Kim Hyatt Research Scientist Pacific Biological Station, Fisheries and Oceans Canada Nanaimo, Canada 

14. Jim Irvine Research Scientist Pacific Biological Station, Fisheries and Oceans Canada Nanaimo, Canada 

15. Minho Kang Intern North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission (NPAFC) Vancouver, Canada 

16. Gennady 

General Director Far Eastern Ecological Center, Ltd. Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Russia 

Kantakov 

17. Sara LaBorde Executive Vice President Wild Salmon Center Portland, USA 

18. Do Hyun Lee Scientist Yangyang Salmon Station, East Sea Branch, Korea Fisheries Yangyang-gun, Korea 

Resources Agency (FIRA) 

19. Carmel Lowe Regional Director of Fisheries and Oceans Canada 

Nanaimo, Canada 

Science 

20. Deana Machin Strategic Development First Nations Fisheries Council of British Columbia 


Manager 

21. John Madden Management Consultant Vancouver, Canada 

22. Mike Matylewich Fisheries Management 

Director 

Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission 

Portland, USA 


Name Title Organization City & Country 

23. Skip McKinnell IYS Rapporteur Salmoforsk International Environmental Consulting Victoria, Canada 

24. Megan McPhee Assistant Professor School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, University of 

Juneau, USA 

Alaska Fairbanks 

25. Doug Mecum Deputy Regional 

Alaska Region (F/AK), National Marine Fisheries Service Juneau, USA 

Administrator 

26. Igor Melnikov Deputy Director Pacific Scientific Research Fisheries Center (TINRO-Center) Vladivostok, Russia 

27. Kristi Miller- 

Saunders 

28. Yasuyuki 

Miyakoshi 

Head, Molecular 

Genetics 

Senior Researcher 

Pacific Biological Station, Fisheries and Oceans Canada 

Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Research Institute, 

Hokkaido Research Organization 

Nanaimo, Canada 

Eniwa, Japan 

29. Kate Moran President and CEO Ocean Networks Canada Victoria, Canada 

30. Dan Morris Deputy Regional 

Administrator 

31. Evgeny 

Professor and Director 

Pakhomov 

National Marine Fisheries Service 

The UBC Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries/Dept. of 

Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences 

Gloucester, USA 


32. Eric Peterson Founder Tula Foundation Heriot Bay, Canada 

33. Vladimir 

Executive Director North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission (NPAFC) Vancouver, Canada 

Radchenko 

34. Laura Richards Chairperson North Pacific Marine Science Organization (PICES) Sidney, Canada 

35. Brian Riddell President and CEO Pacific Salmon Foundation Vancouver, Canada 

36. Rachael Ritchie Director of International Genome British Columbia 


Partnerships 

37. Akash Sastri Staff Scientist, Science Ocean Networks Canada 

Victoria, Canada 

Services 

38. Shunpei Sato Researcher Hokkaido National Fisheries Research Institute, Fisheries Sapporo, Japan 

Research Agency 

39. Mark Saunders Division Manager Pacific Biological Station, Fisheries and Oceans Canada Nanaimo, Canada 

40. Sue Scott Vice-President, 

Atlantic Salmon Federation 

St. Andrews, Canada 

Communications 

41. Matthew Sloat Director of Science Wild Salmon Center Portland, USA 

42. Gary Smith Partner Smith and Stark LLC Seattle, USA 

43. Paul Sprout IYS Business Consultant Nanaimo, Canada 

44. Andrew 

IYS Meeting Facilitator 


Stegemann 

45. Greg Taylor Owner Fish First Consulting Salt Spring Island, Canada 

46. Terry Tebb Director, Special Projects Pacific Salmon Foundation Vancouver, Canada 

47. Marc Trudel Research Scientist Pacific Biological Station, Fisheries and Oceans Canada Nanaimo, Canada 

48. Hiroshi Ueda Specially Appointed 

Professor 

Graduate School of Environmental Science, Hokkaido 

University 

Sapporo, Japan 

49. Shigehiko Urawa Researcher Hokkaido National Fisheries Research Institute, Fisheries Sapporo, Japan 

Research Agency 

50. Eric Volk Chief Fisheries Scientist Commercial Fisheries Division, Alaska Department of Fish Anchorage, USA 

and Game 

51. Fred Whoriskey Executive Director Ocean Tracking Network, Dalhousie University Halifax, Canada 


III. 3. Agenda 

Annotated agendas of the Second IYS Scoping Workshop (March 15-16, 2016) and the IYS Study Group meeting (March 17, 2016) 

were as follows: 

First Day: 

09:00 Agenda Review & Introductions 

• NPAFC welcome: Mark Saunders 

• First Nations welcome: Debora Sparrow 

• Welcome from Fisheries and Oceans Canada: Carmel Lowe 

• Role of the facilitators 

• Review of meeting logistics, objectives, day one agenda, scope of discussion, ground rules 

09:45 Setting the Stage 

• NASCO presentation: introduction to NASCO and their interests in the IYS 

• NPAFC presentation on the proposed concept of the IYS initiative 

10:25 Determining timeframe and milestones 

• Participant feedback on the proposed concept of the IYS initiative 

10:45 Break 

11:00 Key partners and Donors 

• Breakout groups: Group work to brainstorm a list of key partners and donors, and to identify each partner/donor’s interest as it 

relates to salmon 

• Plenary: presentation of findings 

12:15 Lunch 

1:15 Research themes 

• Breakout groups: Group divides into five (one for each research theme) and answers the following questions: 

1. Consider the current theme and its subthemes: are there any missing subthemes? 

2. Is there a different way we want to frame this research theme to better resonate with donors and partners and their interests? 

3. In implementing this theme, what are the results or outcomes that will be important for decision-makers? 

4. Considering the five themes identified, are we missing any themes? 

3:15 Research theme report back 

• Each group reports back in plenary 

4:00 Free time for participants 

6:15 Bus for reception at Vancouver Aquarium leaves 

Second Day: 

09:00 Agenda Review & Day One Overview 

• NPAFC welcome: Mark Saunders 

• Overview of day one and review of day two agenda 

09:30 Year of Outreach 

• Breakout groups answer the following questions: 

1. What are the main objectives and outcomes needed to ensure a successful year of outreach? 

2. Who needs to be engaged and who engages them? (That is, who does the engaging, and whom do they engage?) 

3. How do we effectively outreach to interested groups? (Considering the practicalities, what are some of the key messages? What are 

some of the media vehicles)? 

4. What is the ideal timeframe for the outreach, and when should it begin? Why? 

5. What are the main barriers that we will likely face in raising funds for the International Year of the Salmon? How can we adjust to 

overcome these barriers? 

11:00 Break 


11:15 Year of Outreach Summaries 

• Breakout facilitators recount their group’s notes. 

12:00 Lunch 

1:00 Proposed Capacity/ Governance Arrangements 

• Presentation on the proposed governance arrangement for the IYS and the needed capacity for a successful IYS initiative: Mark 

Saunders 

1:30 Capacity/ Governance feedback 

• Participant feedback on the proposed capacity/ governance arrangements 

2:00 Working Group Identification 

• Participants answer: What work is needed to ensure a successful IYS initiative and will require a working group to ensure it is 

completed? 

2:45 Wrap up & next steps 

The IYS Working (Group Thursday, March 17, 2016, 9:00 – 4:00) agenda: 

1. Roundtable- observations from day 1 and 2 

2. Key issues to address 

a. Scope of IYS 

b. Governance arrangements 

3. Preparation of the IYS strategy (who, what and when) 

4. Secretariat support / administrative capacity 

5. Next meeting of this group 


III. 4. Second Scoping Meeting outcome 

The Scoping Meeting report was presented to the CSRS in the NPAFC Doc. 1658 (see attached). The IYS Working Group also 

developed the Proposal for an International Year of the Salmon (IYS) (Doc. 1663). 

The Scoping Meeting participants were asked to provide their views on an appropriate structure for IYS and following suggestions 

were received: 

Suggestion 1: Establish an overarching committee with science/non-science expertise. Under this might be regional subcommittees 

for the three nodes representing different regions. 

Suggestion 2: The precursor of what became Ocean Networks Canada recognized that oceanographic research was expensive 

because of the need for ship time. The original participants met to discuss their interests in monitoring and research without ships. 

A key feature in running these projects is cooperation; quasi-independent groups were established in the Atlantic and Pacific. There 

was a need to have a substantial communications budget to allow scientists in both oceans to exchange information. 

Suggestion 3: There is a need to consider the nature of the governance objectives and what will be gained from governance. We 

certainly need rigorous science programs, but the specifics are likely place dependent. It would be useful to bin the objectives into 

three scales: International/overarching, basin specific and then party specific. Under ‘international’ would fall things like a steering 

committee to provide a cohesive message and to be a hub for compiling and sharing information and to create inclusive (not stifling) 

objectives such as brand, messaging and outreach along with the coordination of science. Under ‘basin’ would fall the basin NGO’s, 

the status of salmon by basin, and the more basin specific research objectives and projects. Under ‘party specific’ would fall the 

regional examples such as recognizing that, e.g., the northeastern USA is very different from other areas. Here you would determine 

what other species you may include like trout. Here would also fall local outreach and first nations engagement, and other very place 

specific items. 

Suggestion 4: The basic model of IPY relied on national science foundations, whereas IYS is anticipating donors. NPAFC and 

PICES have secretariats with the capacity to act for the benefit of IYS whereas a Steering Committee is a different species with 

responsibilities in many places. There is a need for dedicated capacity to implement the IYS. 

Suggestion 5: Early career scientists should be included in governance. It also needs to include the Arctic. 

Suggestion 6: The International Polar Year (IPY) had 3 subcommittees: • education and outreach subcommittee • data 

subcommittees • satellites observations subcommittee. This may be useful for the IYS also. 

Suggestion 7: The IPY model is good model but so was the Census of Marine Life. It had a secretariat, a steering committee, and a 

data committee. 

Suggestion 8: The IPY model seems good but it contrasts with an alternative that might have more government involvement. Is 

IYS to be an NPAFC initiative or a broad international program? 

Suggestion 9: If we followed the IPY model with the existing research themes, it would have to begin immediately to meet the 

timeline. 

Suggestion 10: Governance in the Pacific should be more like the Salish Sea Project. There would be no need for a request 

for proposals because the leaders would identify the research gaps. That requires a steering committee, perhaps without an 

administrative function, that determines where and what research needs to be done. 

Suggestion 11: If someone is going to receive money from donors for a research program, there will be a need for a responsible 

financial board. Discussion: Define scales of activities that are appropriate at different levels. 


A topic of next steps that arose repeatedly during the workshop was that of capacity. Who is to do the work that is needed to 

implement the IYS? While the broader issues of governance and staffing were to be a subject of further discussion by the IYS-WG and 

partners, there were some immediate tasks to undertake: 

• revise the Research Themes 

• develop public engagement strategies that are sensitive to different organizations and timelines 

• develop a donor strategy that respects differences in organizations / partners 

• identify partners Following a period of pairwise discussions among participants, suggestions were made by each pair about the 

work required to ensure a successful IYS? 

Responses are listed below: 

Suggestion 1: The first WG must define the scope of IYS in broad terms and identify the knowledge gaps. In the Pacific, the 

NPAFC office should have a new person hired; there needs to be a programme champion (someone excited and committed and 

young enough to follow through), a steering committee is needed that is international covering all oceans, there should be a science 

oversight committee to participate in review of science programs, coordinate vessel activity, each country reports to the steering 

committee and national implementation teams. 

Suggestion 2: Ensure that IYS is linked with international research on climate change 

Suggestion 3: Highest order decision needs to demonstrate that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts that would not 

occur without IYS. Governance follows from the mission. All major aspects of the IYS programme require working groups (among 

nations). 

Suggestion 4: A group will be needed to identify where to focus, to identify where the information gaps are currently. An overall 

scientific committee will be critical to this. 

Suggestion 5: The initial next steps require a champion. NPAFC has been the champion and it needs to continue with increasing 

energy. An expression of concept is required to allow people to sign onto the IYS. Could be NGOs, governments, individuals, etc. 

What does it cost? Initially, there is a need for basic start up that may not be so pricey. 

Suggestion 6: Bottom-up versus top-down approaches have been described by participants. If IYS has a clear mission then 

top-down approach is preferred. IYS must find its own funds. NPAFC office has no capacity to take on a coordinating role so an 

International Project Office should be established. 

Suggestion 7: Identifying potentials for ship time should be a priority for a group. Canvas the broader research community. There 

is a need to coordinate with ICES and PICES at the higher level. Data gathering strategies need to be established early. 

Suggestion 8: The IPY success was impressive. A steering committee would be the next step after NPAFC and NASCO endorse 

the IYS in the spring. A steering committee should identify costs of an International Project Office. A working group could look at 

outreach activities. A working group might define project criteria that builds on the research themes. 

Suggestion 9: At least three working groups could be established: one to frame the IYS package, one to work on scientific knowns 

and unknowns, and one to focus on international collaboration. 

Suggestion 10: Every component of IYS could use a working group. They need to be directed at specific questions. There is a 

need to have an easy answer when someone asks what the IYS hopes to accomplish. 

Suggestion 11: Start with national members of a working group. A technical secretariat will be needed to take care of business. 



IV. 2016 Joint Patrol Schedule Meeting 



IV. 2016 Joint Patrol Schedule Meeting 

IV. 1. Time and agenda of the email Meeting 

The Committee on Enforcement Joint Patrol Schedule Meeting (JPSM) was held by e-mail communication from February 29 - 

March 3, 2016. O. Volkov, Chairperson of the Committee on Enforcement (ENFO), opened the meeting. 

Mr. Volkov welcomed all participants at the 2016 JPSM, explained the meeting procedures, and proposed to approve an agenda. 

The JPSM agenda is restricted to discussion and coordination of the patrol schedules among the Parties. 

IV. 2. Participants 

From NPAFC Parties 

Canada Gary Miller* United States Patrick Barelli 

Tim Willis 

Christopher Barrows 

Will Ellis 

Japan Manabu Baba* Nathan Lagerwey 

Niel Moeller 

Korea Sohan Bae Karl Mueller 

Sang Dae Jeong 

Michael Ross 

Seunghyun Kim 

Courtney Sergent 

Taehi Ri 

Philip Thorne* 

Jeongseok Park* 

Sejong Park NPAFC Secretariat Vladimir Radchenko 

Nancy Davis 

Russia Igor Belosumov Jennifer Chang 

Anna Lyaschenko 

Harold Belongilot 

Oleg Volkov* 

Yana Zhadan 

* - Meeting persons of contact (MPoC) 


IV. 3. Coordination of the 2015 NPAFC Joint Patrol Schedule 

The Secretariat prepared, in cooperation with the ENFO Chairman, a draft meeting schedule and procedure that was approved by 

the ENFO Points of Contacts by e-mail on January 30, 2016 (Memo E16-01 of January 11, 2016). Details on the meeting procedure, 

agenda, Meeting Points of Contact (MPoC) and the delegates of each Party were uploaded on the secure JPSM web page. 

The draft combined patrol schedule chart was made by the Secretariat based on the patrol schedule of each Party. The MPoC 

was requested to review and e-mail adjustment, if any, on each draft patrol schedule in a timely fashion. Afterwards, the Secretariat 

adjusted the draft joint patrol schedule chart with changes. 

The Secretariat prepared the JPSM report (NPAFC Doc. 1619) and distributed it to the NPAFC Points of Contact with the Circular 

Letter No. 351 of March 14, 2016. 

In April 2016, Japan informed the Secretariat that their 2016 patrol schedule should be revised with new information that was not 

available at the time of JPSM. 

The Secretariat uploaded the revised Japan patrol schedule to the IIS website and notified all ENFO members of the updated 

patrol schedule. Then, the Committee on Enforcement reviewed and adopted the joint patrol schedule at the 24th NPAFC Annual 

Meeting in May 2016, as appended (Appendix 1) 




V. 24 th Annual Meeting 



V. 24 th Annual Meeting 

V. 1. Time and Place of the Meeting 

The Twenty-fourth Annual Meeting of the Commission was held at the Lotte Hotel Busan, Busan, Republic of Korea, on May 16-20, 

2016. Plenary sessions were presided over by Mr. Junichiro Okamoto, President of the Commission. 

The Committee on Enforcement (ENFO) met on May 17, with Mr. Oleg Volkov of the Russia as Chairperson. 

The Committee on Scientific Research and Statistics (CSRS) met on May 16-19, with Dr. Loh-Lee Low of the United States as 

Chairperson. 

The Committee on Finance and Administration (F&A) met on May 18 and 19, with Mr. Jeongseok Park of the Republic of Korea as 

Chairperson. 


V. 2. Participants 

Canada 

Representatives 

Carmel Lowe (NPAFC Vice President, Head of Delegation) 

Advisers and Experts 

Terry Beacham 

Kate Johnson 

Gary Miller 

Mark Saunders 

Arlene Tompkins 

Marc Trudel 

Tim Willis 

Japan 


Masaki Hoshina (Head of Delegation) 

Junichiro Okamoto (NPAFC President) 


Manabu Baba 

Masa-aki Fukuwaka 

Yuki Ito 

Motoyasu Kuwaki 

Yasuyuki Miyakoshi 

Yuta Oda 

Toshihiko Saito 

Shunpei Sato 

Shigehiko Urawa 

Republic of Korea 


Hyunho Choi 

Do Hyun Lee 

Jeongseok Park (Head of Delegation) 


Hye Jin Cho 

Sera Choi 

Hyeongsik Gong 

Bongsoo Ha 

Kwan Eui Hong 

Sang Dae Jeong 

Eunjeon Kim 

Ju Kyoung Kim 

Na Ri Kim 

Sang Gyu Kim 

Suam Kim 

Suyeon Kim 

Yunjung Kim 

Je Hyun Moon 

Bong Se Oh 

Heon-Sik Park 

Minjae Park 

Young Gi Park 

Taehi Ri 

Jin Woo Seo 

Hye Won Son 

Tae Yub Song 

Seong-Min Yun 


Russian Federation 


Vladimir Belyaev 

Mikhail Glubokovsky (Head of Delegation) 


Elena Akinicheva 

Alexander Bugaev 

Gilyana Dinkieva 

Sergey Gnenik 

Nataliya Klovach 

Igor Melnikov 

Svetlana Naydenko 

Valeriy Shevlyakov 

Olga Temnykh 

Oleg Volkov 

Vladimir Volobuev 

Yana Zhadan 

United States 


Earl Krygier 

Douglas Mecum (Alternate, Head of Delegation) 

Gary Smith 


Michael Clark 

Ed Farley 

Andrew Gray 

Jeff Guyon 

Loh-Lee Low 

Niel Moeller 

Karl Mueller 

Erik Neatherlin 

Dion Oxman 

Glenn Reed 

Jim Seeb 

William Templin 

Phillip Thorne 

Observer 

North Pacific Fisheries Commission (NPFC)......................................Dae Yeon Moon 

Secretariat 

Vladimir Radchenko.................................................. Executive Director 

Nancy Davis................................................................... Deputy Director 

Jennifer Chang..................................................... Administrative Officer 

Harold Belongilot.........................................Web/Publication Manager 

Yuko Uchida..................................................... Administrative Assistant 

Wakako Morris.......................................................................Consultant 

Temporary Assistants 

Blair An 

Dominica Choi 

Olivia Choi 

Benita Jang 

Minho Kang 

Daina Kim 

Ki Min Kim 

Lynn Kim 

Yun Joo Lee 

Yeonju Oh 

Miseong Park 

Gilbert Son 

Lani Yeo 


Interpreters 

English/Japanese 

Ikumi Graham 

Midori Ota 

English/Korean 

Miyang Chu 

Hi-Chun Koh 

English/Russian 

Andrei Falaleyev 

Julia Mogilev 

Hiroko Yasokawa 

Kiyoko Matsuse 

Junghae Park 

Cheol Ja Jeong 

Igor Zoubko 

Elena Malofeeva 

Yoshiko Soeda 

Sangsook Lee 

Aleksej Rachubo 

V. 3. Agenda 

First Session: 2015 May 11, Monday 09:00 

Agenda for the Commission's Plenary Sessions 

1. Opening by the President of NPAFC, Mr. Junichiro Okamoto 

2. Opening addresses, introduction and report on delegation memberships 

3. Introduction of observers 

4. Adoption of agenda 

5. Meeting procedures 

(a) Attendance at meetings 

(b) Schedule of sessions 

(c) Press policy 

(d) Minutes 

6. Executive Director’s report 

7. Consideration of enforcement 

(a) Review activities contrary to provisions of the Convention and enforcement actions taken by the Parties (Article IX, 2 and 5) 

(b) Review of the report of Joint Patrol Schedule Meeting (JPSM), February 29–March 3, 2016 

(c) Review progress on Port State Measures (PSM) 

(d) Review progress on development of recommendations on stricter treatment of non-contracting party vessels conducting 

IUU activities in the Convention Area 

(e) Joint Session with CSRS 

(f) Cooperation with relevant international organizations and invitations to state or entity (Article IX 9 and 10) 

(g) Biweekly email conferences 

(h) Usage, experience, and maintenance of the IIS 

(i) Review of Parties’ proposals on joint projects to be financed by the Commission 

(j) Future meetings 

(k) Adoption of ENFO Report 

8. Consideration of scientific research and statistics 

(a) Review of 2015 salmon catches and enhancement production (Article VII, 2 and 3, ToR 3) 

(b) Review of scientific research activities in relation to the 2011–2015 NPAFC Science Plan Components (Article VII 8. and IX 

6. ToR 3 and 13) 

(c) Consideration of the new NPAFC Science Plan (Article VII, and IX, 6 and 8, ToR 3 and 13) 

(d) Coordination of scientific research activities (Article IX 6. and 8. TOR 1 and 8) 

(e) Consideration of the International Year of the Salmon initiative implementation 

(f) Review of Parties’ proposals on joint projects to be financed by the Commission (ToR 2) 


(g) Cooperation with relevant international organizations and invitations to state or entity (Article IX 9. and 10. ToR 14 and 15) 

(h) Status Reports on Projects (ToR 9; Rules of Procedure 25). 

(i) Joint Session with the Committee on Enforcement (Article VII 1. ToR 4 and 5). 

(j) Future meetings (Article VII 5. ToR 8) 

(k) Adoption of CSRS Report 

9. Consideration of administrative and fiscal matters 

(a) Consideration of Auditor’s Report and selection of an auditor 

(b) Budget Projection for fiscal year beginning July 1, 2016 

(c) Budget Estimate for fiscal year beginning July 1, 2017 

(d) Budget Forecast for fiscal year beginning July 1, 2018 

(e) Administrative report for 2015/16 

(f) Administrative matters 

(g) 25 th NPAFC Anniversary 

(h) Review of ENFO and CSRS recommendations on joint projects to be financed by the Commission 

(i) Schedule of future Annual Meetings 

(j) Adoption of F&A Report 

10. Executive Director Performance Review assessment 

11. Deputy Director’s term of office and related issues 

12. Consideration of the Working Group report on the International Year of the Salmon project developments 

13. 2016 NPAFC Award presentation 

14. Election of the Commission's Officers 

15. Other business 

16. Schedule of Twenty–fifth Annual Meeting 

17. Summary minutes of plenary sessions 

18. News Release 

19. Closing remarks 

20. Adjournment 


V. 4. Opening Remarks 

There were addresses of welcome and statements by the NPAFC President, the representative of the Korean Government, 

Representatives of Japan, Canada, Russia, the United States, and Republic of Korea. 

Opening remarks by NPAFC President, Mr. Junichiro Okamoto: 

Representatives, Advisors, Delegates, Observers, and Distinguished Guests, 

I am Junichiro Okamoto. I am serving as chairman of the plenary sessions. In opening the 24th Annual Meeting of the NPAFC, I 

would like to say a few words. 

As in the case with salmon which comes back to its native river after a certain period of time, the NPAFC Annual Meeting comes 

back to the same hosting member after five years. I am very delighted to be able to come back to Korea this year and attend the 24th 

Annual Meeting with familiar faces and also people who are joining this year for the first time. 

On behalf of the entire Commission, I would like to thank people of the Government of Republic of Korea who hosts and worked 

hard to prepare for the meeting. 

I also would like to express my appreciation to the Executive Director, Dr. Radchenko, and the capable staff of the Secretariat who 

organized this meeting and coordinated various NPAFC activities conducted since the last meeting. 

Since its establishment, the NPAFC has made a great progress in the endeavors of CSRS, ENFO and F&A through cooperation 

among the Parties. Through the NPAFC activities, the members have fostered the cooperative relationship, which is a great asset 

for the organization. I am confident, at this meeting again, the chairmen and the members of the committees will work hard in a 

productive manner to address the issues referred to them and achieve the outcomes that reflect the interests of all the Parties. 

We also need to respond to the new situation that is the North Pacific Fisheries Commission, our brother commission in the North 

Pacific officially started its operation last year. The members of the NPAFC and NPFC are not identical, but with the establishment 

of the NPFC, the parties to both organizations will be increasingly interested in better coordination of the activities between the two 

brother organizations. We need to have that in mind when we work on the future activity plans. 

I hope that at each committee we will have forward-looking discussions. 

The 24th Annual Meeting starts with this first plenary and is scheduled to continue until Friday. I appreciate your support and 

cooperation for the meeting proceedings so that there will be active discussions in a friendly and cooperative atmosphere. 

Busan has been prosperous as a port city for a long time and is not only the second largest city in Korea but also one of the world 

renowned fishery and marine city. I’m sure you will enjoy this stay in Busan which was made possible by the Government of Republic 

of Korea. 

I now declare the 24th Annual Meeting of the NPAFC open and I would like to close my remarks by wishing for the success and 

productive outcome of the meeting. 

Opening remarks by Ms. Shin-Hee Cho, Director-General for Overseas Fisheries and International Policy Bureau, Ministry 

of Oceans and Fisheries, Republic of Korea: 

Good morning, the President of NPAFC, Mr. Junichiro Okamoto, Executive Director of NPAFC, Dr. Vladimir Radchenko, and 

Distinguished Representatives and Ladies and Gentlemen: 

I am Cho Shin-Hee, Director-General for Overseas Fisheries and International Policy Bureau, Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries of 

the Republic of Korea. I am in charge of international fisheries organizations including FAO, OECD and distant water fisheries policies 

of the Republic of Korea. 


First of all, I would like to warmly welcome all of you to the 24th Annual Meeting of the North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission 

here in Busan, Korea, which is the largest port city and the birthplace of Korea’s distant water fisheries. It is a great honor and 

pleasure for me to deliver this welcome address on behalf of the Republic of Korea. 

Distinguished Representatives and Ladies and Gentlemen, since Korea has been a member of the NPAFC in 2003, it has actively 

participated in domestic salmon-release programs and exchange of scientific information and enforcement activities to deter, 

prevent, and eliminate IUU fishing in the North Pacific Ocean. 

As some of you are aware in 2010, we had a great accomplishment through confiscation of 28 tons of salmon illegally caught 

by two vessels coming to Busan Port with our domestic Port State Inspection due to close cooperation in a timely manner among 

members of NPAFC. In the meantime, Korea has amended its Distant Water Fisheries Act several times over the past two years to 

eradicate IUU fishing and to take a leap forward as a responsible member of the international community. 

Such actions include mandatory installment of a Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) on all Korean-flagged distant water fishing 

vessels, and establishment of Fisheries Monitoring Center (FMC) to monitor the movement of fishing vessels in real time. 

One thing we would like to highlight is that Korea has acceded the FAO Port State Measures Agreement this January and now 

accelerated our domestic port inspection to foreign flagged vessels coming to Korea. 

At the same time, we are planning, this year, through collaboration with Korea Coast Guard, to join enforcement activity by 

dispatching an aircraft to detect IUU fishing vessels in the North Pacific Ocean. 

These collective and cooperative enforcement activities among NPAFC members will be a great asset to the North Pacific 

Fisheries Commission (NPFC), which was inaugurated in September 2015, and will bring significant effect to prevent, deter, and 

eliminate IUU fishing in the North Pacific Ocean. 

Distinguished Representatives and Ladies and Gentlemen, I do hope this meeting will facilitate international cooperation among 

the members to exchange information, expertise, technologies and scientific research for the purpose of the expansion of salmon 

releasing programs, and enforcement activities to eradicate IUU fishing for the conservation and management of the North Pacific 

anadromous stocks. I believe that such efforts will reap fruitful results in this session held in Busan, Korea. I understand there is a 

heavy workload for the Commission to address over the next five days. 

However, I do hope that you will also take some time to enjoy the beautiful scenery and rich culture of Busan. 

Thank you very much. 

Opening remarks by Mr. Masaki Hoshina, Head of the Japanese delegation: 

Mr. Chairman, Mr. President, Distinguished Delegates, Observers, Ladies and Gentlemen, 

My name is Masaki Hoshina. I work for the Department of Resource Enhancement Promotion, Fisheries Agency of Japan as a 

Director-General. I was appointed as a Japanese Representative to NPAFC last February, this is the first-time to participate in the 

NPAFC Annual Meeting for me. I look forward to having the opportunity to meet the members of the other delegations and to have 

discussions on various issues. 

It is an honor for Japanese delegates to be joining this Annual Meeting in this beautiful city of Busan. On behalf of the Japanese 

delegation, I also would like to thank both the Korean Government and all of the staff at the NPAFC Secretariat for having made 

preparations for this meeting. This is the first visit to Busan for many in our delegation including me. We also look forward to learning 

more about Busan and enjoying the amenities of this city. 

The activities of NPAFC are also important for Japan. Japan thinks that we have to conserve and manage anadromous fishes 

under the partnerships among all of the Parties being discussed at NPAFC. On the other hand, the circumstances began to change. 

With regard to fishing vessels operating in the Convention Area near-by Japan, Japanese monitoring vessels confirmed that numbers 

of fishing vessels of third parties are in the increase these years. Judging from their equipment on board, it seems that the vessels 

target other pelagic fish, however, Japan continues to watch their activities with great concern. 


We discussed on the issue of actions against IUU vessels at the Kobe meeting last year. Japan has made some comments about 

the topics last February. I understand that we should find an effective progress toward a common goal through exchange of views 

among the Parties in the ENFO meeting. 

And also we have to discuss other issues such as financial problems, and new topics to be solved. I think that it is challenging for 

us to make important decisions, but I hope we can meet each other again with a smile at the 2nd plenary session on Friday. 

In closing, please let me introduce our members. This is Mr. Okamoto co-head of the Japanese delegation with me. From Japan 

Fisheries Agency Mr. Baba and Mr. Oda. From Japan Fisheries Research and Education Agency, Dr. Fukuwaka, Dr. Urawa, Dr. Saito, 

Dr. Sato and Mr. Kuwaki. From Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Research Institute, Hokkaido Research Organization, Dr. Miyakoshi. 

From Consulate-General of Japan in Busan, Ms. Ito. 

I wish all of you successful work at this meeting. Thank you 

Opening remarks by Dr. Carmel Lowe, Head of the Canadian delegation: 

Mr. President, Distinguished Delegates, Observers, Ladies and Gentlemen: 

My name is Carmel Lowe, and I am head of the Canadian Delegation and Regional Director of Science for the Pacific Region of 

Fisheries and Oceans Canada. It is a privilege for me to be joining all of you this week for my second NPAFC meeting. On behalf of 

the Canadian delegation, I would like to express my gratitude to Korea for hosting the 24th Annual Meeting of the NPAFC in this lovely 

harbour city of Busan. 

Since the inception of the NPAFC, the Parties have dedicated themselves to collaboratively advancing enforcement work and 

scientific exchange to promote the conservation of anadromous stocks in the North Pacific, as outlined in our Convention. NPAFC’s 

many contributions have helped Canada advance its own policies and management approaches for Pacific salmon, a species of key 

cultural, historical, and economic significance for Canadians. 

Since our meeting last year, Canada has a new federal Government headed by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Mr. Trudeau and 

his new Government are very committed to science-based decision-making and to ensuring that climate change and ecosystem 

considerations underpin all decisions on resource use within Canada’s sovereign territories. Given this and the continued uncertainty 

surrounding the various factors that affect the health of Pacific salmon and steelhead, particularly the impacts of climate change 

on the marine environment, the scientific collaboration that takes place through the NPAFC is instrumental to supporting us meet 

our new Government’s goals. Specifically, the work of the Committee on Scientific Research and Statistics contributes to our 

understanding of relevant, and at times unexpected, trends. These include, for example, the interactions between wild and hatchery 

salmon, climate impacts on Pacific salmon in the NPAFC Convention Area, and productivity trends by population. The NPAFC’s next 

fiveyear Science Plan will be essential in advancing the strategic work of the CSRS, ensuring that it is guided by a clear vision. 

In addition to finalizing the Science Plan, we look forward to discussing the results of the recent second scoping meeting of the 

International Year of the Salmon. The scoping exercise explored possible partnerships with other organizations and funding bodies, 

which will be fundamental to successfully advancing this valuable initiative and delivering results that comprehensively address the 

project’s objectives. 

With respect to the Commission’s enforcement activities, the threat of IUU fishing for salmon in the North Pacific Ocean 

persists and the international collaboration that takes place within the NPAFC is critical. We must remain vigilant as crew members 

on IUU vessels find new ways to avoid detection and apprehension. Internally, continued engagement between the CSRS and 

ENFO committees will enhance our ability to best detect these vessels by increasing our mutual understanding of the patterns 

and behaviours of the stocks. Externally, strengthened enforcement collaboration between the NPAFC and other North Pacific 

organizations, such as the North Pacific Fisheries Commission, will ensure the effective and efficient use of resources in pursuing this 

goal of eliminating IUU fishing in the North Pacific. 

I would like to take this opportunity to extend a specific thank you to Japan for their continued support in providing a staging 


location for CP-140 Aurora patrol aircraft again this year. Staging Canadian patrols out of Japan allows us to increase surveillance 

coverage of the Convention Area and, therefore, enhances our enforcement capability. It also demonstrates an excellent example of 

cooperation in this Commission. 

In order to continue the positive work of this Commission, Canada notes the importance of the long-term fiscal sustainability of 

this organization, and ensuring that its activities are efficient and effective. As the home of the Secretariat, Canada seeks to provide 

guidance and support to the Commission in this respect. 

I would like to thank Dr. Radchenko, President Okamoto, and the Secretariat for all their hard work and dedication throughout the 

year to ensure that the Commission’s work is meaningful, and specifically for all the planning required to make our meeting this week a 

success. Finally, I would like to thank the interpreters for their exceptional service as always throughout this meeting. 

Now, let me introduce you to the members of Canada’s delegation: Gary Miller and Tim Willis will represent Canada in the 

Enforcement Committee; On the science front we have Mark Saunders, Arlene Tompkins, Terry Beacham, and Marc Trudel; Finally, 

Kate Johnson will be supporting me throughout the meeting and in the Finance and Administration Committee specifically. 

We look forward to working with you all this week, to continue to advance the aims of this Commission. Thank you 

Opening remarks by Dr. Mikhail Glubokovsky, Head of the Russian delegation: 

Dear Mr. President! Distinguished Delegates, Dear Colleagues! 

I am pleased to greet you all on behalf of the Russian delegation. During the year, many things have happened. In October 2015, 

there was the Russian State Council meeting, which considered the fisheries sector problems among other matters. In the same year, 

the Russian legislation in the field of fisheries and aquaculture was changed. There will be more attention paid to the problems of 

coastal fishing and shipbuilding. 

Russian fishery scientists consider that domestic fisheries will catch more than 4.5 million tons of fish in 2016. Projected catch of 

Pacific salmon might be at 330–400 tons. According to the opinion of our scientists, the peak of salmon abundance has passed. An 

abundance decline may begin soon. 

I really like Busan, it became prettier after my last visit. The good weather also encourages us and should help us in the work. 

Good luck should accompany us in all the difficult issues we have to resolve. I wish us a great success. 

Let me introduce members of the Russian delegation. . 

Opening remarks by Mr. Douglas Mecum, Head of the United States delegation: 

Mr. President, Distinguished Delegates, Observers, Ladies and Gentlemen, 

My name is Doug Mecum, and I am head of the U.S. Delegation and the Deputy Regional Administrator of the Alaska Region of 

the National Marine Fisheries Service. The U.S. delegation thanks the Korean Government for hosting the 24th Annual Meeting of 

the North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission in the “dynamic” city of Busan. We look forward to learning more about Busan and 

enjoying the amenities of this great port city. 

At last year’s NPAFC meeting, the United States emphasized that understanding the effects of climate change on salmon 

production must be a critical element of our science plans. The anomalously warm pool of ocean water continues to linger in the 

northeast Pacific Ocean, changing the marine ecosystem and shifting marine life distributions, characteristics, and abundances. 

We have seen northward movements of many marine species not normally found off Alaska and believe that salmon distributions 

and production will shift as well. The marine ecosystems that support salmon are clearly changing. Therefore, the United States 

encourages the Committee of Scientific Research and Statistics to adopt the new 2016 to 2020 Science Plan, where the primary goal 

is to understand variations in Pacific salmon productivity in a changing climate. The goal and objectives of the new Science Plan are 


also aligned with the proposed research theme for the “International Year of the Salmon”, but the key difference for IYS is the extended 

geographic range of research that includes the Atlantic, Baltic and the Arctic. 

Speaking of the Arctic, the North Pacific Research Board last week approved funding for a joint NOAA– University of Alaska 

proposal to conduct integrated ecosystem research in the Chukchi Sea and Beaufort Sea. The project, known as the Arctic 

Integrated Ecosystem Survey, or Arctic ‘ice’, includes surveys during spring and late summer 2017 and 2019. The goal is to address 

how reductions in Arctic sea ice and the associated physical changes to the environment influence the flow of energy through the 

pelagic ecosystem. We note that Pacific salmon abundance is increasing in the US and Canadian Arctic; thus one of the objectives 

of this research is to establish the relative abundance, size, and condition of juvenile salmonids that utilize the Arctic coastal regions 

to improve our understanding of the mechanisms that may lead to increase growth and survival of these salmon. The United States 

looks forward to planning research collaboration with Russia and other NPAFC members on important science questions raised in 

the NPAFC and IYS science plan that include the Arctic region. Given the Paris Climate Agreement and other climate initiatives at 

the United Nations, there is an imminent call to RFMOs for “specific sciencefocused actions to study climate impacts on fisheries 

production.” 

The United States thanks all of the Parties for their high level of enforcement cooperation again during 2015. The U.S. specifically 

extends a sincere thanks to the respective enforcement agencies from Japan, Russia, Korea, and Canada for providing aircraft and 

surveillance support during the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Mellon's patrol in the Convention Area. Additionally, by holding monthly 

enforcement meetings, all Parties during the enforcement season were able to coordinate efforts and expand the patrol areas of the 

NPAFC Convention Area by focusing efforts on multiple areas. 

I would like to note several of the multilateral efforts to address IUU threats. There was continued collaboration with Canada and 

Japan to support effective aerial surveillance patrols from northern Japan. The United States coordinated bilaterally with China to 

address the threat of large-scale high seas driftnet fishing in the NPAFC Convention Area by hosting six PRC shipriders onboard the 

USCGC Mellon during their high seas patrol. 

The United States believes that the close working relationships that the Parties have developed during the virtual joint patrol 

scheduling meetings have been absolutely critical to the successful planning and implementation of joint patrol efforts—this NPAFC 

best practice should be celebrated and continued. In that regard, the United States has already commenced high seas enforcement 

efforts and is looking forward to continued close collaboration with the partner countries in the NPAFC to achieve coordinated 

multilateral enforcement operations in 2016. 

In closing, we anticipate a productive week ahead and we look forward to renewing and strengthening our relationships within the 

NPAFC, its committees, and the Parties. Now, please allow me to introduce the members of the U.S. delegation. 

Opening remarks by Mr. Jeongseok Park, Head of the Korean delegation: 

Good morning, the President of the NPAFC, Mr. Junichiro Okamoto, Honorable Representatives, Delegates, Invited Observers, 

and Ladies and Gentlemen. 

I am Jeongseok Park from the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries (MOF) leading our Korean delegation at the 24th Annual Meeting 

of NPAFC. First of all, on behalf of the Korean Government, I would like to welcome all of you in Busan, Korea, one of the biggest port 

cities in the world. The Korean delegation would like to thank the Executive Director, Dr. Vladimir Radchenko, and the Secretariat staff 

for wellorganized logistic arrangement and preparation for this meeting. As some of you may recall, this is the second time to host 

this NPAFC Commission meeting right here since the 18th Annual Meeting in 2010 was held in the same meeting venue. 

To begin with, I would like to highlight that our mutual cooperation, collaborative, and well-organized coordination of NPAFC’s 

effort to deter, prevent, and eliminate IUU fishing activities and HSDN using a set of assets like patrol vessels and aircrafts, and 

other useful sources on the high seas of the North Pacific Ocean are at the highest level compared with other regional fisheries 

management organizations. In line with this collaborative effort, for the first time, the Korean government has a plan to dispatch an 

aircraft to conduct aerial enforcement activity in the Convention Area this year. 

I would also like to emphasize not only our own enforcement activities in NPAFC, but also we have to enhance mutual cooperation 

and establish ways for an effective and collaborative enforcement strategy with the North Pacific Fisheries Commission (NPFC) which 


has been inaugurated in September last year. As most of you know, there are significant fisheries in the North Pacific Ocean and the 

NPFC has been discussing and developing the main Monitoring, Control, and Surveillance (MCS)-related issues: high seas boarding 

and inspection procedures, at-sea transhipping scheme, and reporting on possible IUU fishing activities, etc. 

Korea acceded the FAO Port State Measures Agreement on 14 January 2016 for the purpose of maximizing our effort and 

capability to eradicate possible IUU fishing activities. As we have done so far, we encourage other Parties to provide any information 

on potential IUU fishing-related vessels or HSDN vessels entering our ports to our government, then we will conduct port State 

inspections, thereby contributing the eradication of IUU fishing activities. 

Korea would like to highly appreciate the NPAFC for its long-standing commitment to the conservation and management for 

anadromous fish in the North Pacific Ocean. I have noted that the total amount of commercial catch for chum salmon of Korea in 

2015 reached approximately five hundred metric tons, which gradually increases and records the highest figure since Korea acceded 

the Convention in 2003. I do believe that this increased chum salmon catch is due to active exchange of scientific information, and 

enhanced and cooperative enforcement activities among the five Parties. Through the CSRS meeting this week, Korea would like to 

continue to exchange scientific information and techniques on salmon migratory routes which are essential for the achievement of 

our aim of the NPAFC Convention. 

We have a heavy workload for this meeting to address agenda items over the next five days. However, I am sure that all of us will 

obviously achieve our common goal; conservation and management, and sustainable use of anadromous fish in the North Pacific 

Ocean through in-depth discussions and close cooperation and collaboration. In this regard, I sincerely hope that our efforts and 

cooperation will reap fruitful results in this Annual Meeting. 

I welcome you once again on behalf of the Government of Republic of Korea. I wish you a fruitful work and enjoyable time off work. 


President Okamoto introduced Dr. Dae Yeon Moon, Executive Secretary of the North Pacific Fisheries Commission 

(NPFC) as observer at the meeting on behalf of NPFC. Dr. Moon made opening remarks: 

Good morning, Mr. Junichiro Okamoto, President of NPAFC, Dr. Vladimir Radchenko, Executive Director, Distinguished Delegates, 

and Ladies and Gentlemen. 

It gives me great pleasure as the Executive Secretary of the North Pacific Fisheries Commission to thank to you all for providing me 

the opportunity to attend the 24th Annual Meeting of NPAFC as an observer. 

As you may be aware, the North Pacific Fisheries Commission (NPFC) is a newly established regional fisheries management 

organization, headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, with the NPFC Convention entered into force on 19 July 2015. The NPFC is responsible 

for implementing the objective of the Convention which is to ensure the long-term conservation and sustainable use of fisheries 

resources in the Convention Area while protecting the marine ecosystems of the North Pacific Ocean in which these resources occur. 

With regard to the history of the NPFC, I would like to encourage you to refer to the NPAFC Newsletter No. 39 issued in January 

this year by Dr. Radchenko. While I was reading this Newsletter, I was deeply impressed with his talent as a good writer and was very 

grateful to him for his comprehensive description of the birth of the NPFC, which dates back to 2001 when COFI adopted the IPOA- 

IUU and 2004 when the UNGA resolution 59/25 called states of the North Pacific region to urgently respond to establish a RFMO 

—later to be called the NPFC. 

To be honest, I do not have anything more to add to his article since almost everything has already been addressed, so at this 

meeting I have only a few words to reemphasize what has been said in relation to cooperation between the two organizations. 

The NPFC is now at the early stage of setting up the Secretariat by hiring staff members, and hosting the first Scientific Committee 

meetings to deal with the urgent scientific issues of Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems (VMEs), North Pacific armorhead, and Pacific 

saury resources. Those meetings were successful and showed us future directions to move forward towards our objectives. 

However, at the same time we realized that there are many more things ahead of us to pursue to enable us to fulfill our duties and 

responsibilities. 


Therefore, as it is common to other RFMOs at their early development phase, the NPFC also is encouraged by the contact from 

other RFMOs to liaise and form cooperation agreements to enable an exchange of pertinent information on research, processes and 

operational activities through which we can support each other, learn from others’ experiences, and enhance the capability of each 

RFMO in its performance. 

We are certain that cooperation with NPAFC, our neighboring RFMO with international fame as an excellent fisheries management 

body for over 20 years, would benefit us in various aspects including science and compliance issues that would be taken into 

consideration preferably as the higher priority at this first phase of cooperation. 

As for the science, since we are sharing the North Pacific as the common Convention Area to a large extent, and also share the 

common objective to conserve fish resources, exchange of scientific information gathered by each side, and information on fishing 

activities could save us both in effort and financial outputs to cover such a wide area as the North Pacific. 

Another area for cooperation is the compliance component upon which NPFC will implement its management scheme through 

its Members. NPFC has taken the compliance component of management very seriously from the beginning of discussions to 

establish the Commission. This was evidenced by the preparatory conferences to establish interim and voluntary measures for the 

conservation and protection of the ecosystems, especially for the deep water fisheries. These interim measures are continually being 

updated and advanced by the Commission. 

Further, the Commission has already taken action to adopt two Conservation and Management Measures (CMM) at its first 

Commission meeting in September 2015. The first CMM set a formal process for the establishment of an NPFC Register of Authorized 

Fishing Vessels. The second CMM took action to develop control measures for the Pacific saury fishery by urging restraint in the 

expansion of fishing effort, by requiring all vessels fishing for Pacific saury to carry a Vessel Monitoring System (VMS), and third, to 

direct the Commission to complete a stock assessment for Pacific saury by 2017. These are very positive steps towards management 

of the fisheries under the mandate of the Commission. 

The Technical Compliance Committee and the Commission shall be looking at the ongoing development of a high seas boarding 

and inspection regime carrying on from the preparatory conferences exercises in August and will commence discussions on a 

compliance strategy to address other compliance issues, including VMS, Observers, etc., areas very familiar to the NPAFC. The 

Secretariat looks forward to taking advantage of the vast experience of NPAFC as we build our compliance system. The new 

Compliance Manager looks forward to close collaboration with the NPAFC team in areas of mutual interest on compliance matters 

especially recognizing the benefits from compliance information networking through our Members and the two secretariats. We 

look forward to establishing such linkages in the very near future, and as a first step we wish to invite a representative of the NPAFC 

compliance team to attend out Technical Compliance Committee Meeting 22–23 August 2016. 

From my past six-month experiences with the NPFC Secretariat, I should fully admit that the establishment of a new commission 

like NPFC is not easy. In light of this, I would like to assure you that our participating states have exerted enormous efforts to establish 

the NPFC over the past nine years. These efforts included not only holding numerous consultation and preparatory meetings, but 

also implementation of interim and voluntary management measures to manage bottom fish resources and protect VMEs, as noted 

earlier. Our goal is to formalize these interim and voluntary measures into conservation and management measures for adoption by 

the Commission this August, and to submit it thereafter to the UN for information. 

In August this year in Japan, we will hold the 2nd Annual Session of the Commission where participants will discuss cooperation 

with other organizations; consequently, in addition to our previous invitation regarding steps for linkage for compliance matters, we 

also look forward to a representative from the NPAFC to assist us to facilitate our future cooperation. 

Fi nally, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the Government of the Republic of Korea for hosting this meeting as well as 

for the great hospitality. 



V. 5. Executive Director’s Report 

The ED report (NPAFC Doc. 1623) was submitted to the Parties prior to the meeting along with Circular Letter #350 of March 14, 

2016. It describes the NPAFC events and activities of the 2015/2016 fiscal year to that date. 

The report reviewed the status of implementation of the Commission’s decisions and the committees’ recommendations that were 

approved by the Commission at the Twenty-third Annual Meeting. Executive Director presented Information on cooperation with 

relevant international organizations, descriptions of the Commission’s activities in the areas of enforcement and scientific research 

and statistics, publications, and a summary of the Secretariat’s performance, including management of the Commission’s funds. 

(a) Enforcement-related section of the ED report 

This section of the ED report mainly covered the ENFO activities and events that took place in 2015, excluding participation at 

the public webinar on establishing of seafood risk-based traceability program in the United States and the 2016 JPSM meeting (see 

section IV. 2016 Joint Patrol Schedule Meeting). Enforcement-related activities are described in the “II.5. Enforcement in 2016” and 

“VI.1. Consideration of Enforcement” sections of this Annual Report. 

(b) Science and Statistics in the ED report 

Status of the Anniversary book with the working title, “Life Histories of Pacific Salmon and Trout in the Ocean Ecosystems” was 

reported there: the AFS received and completed edition of five chapters (coho salmon, pink salmon, sockeye salmon, steelhead trout, 

and coastal cutthroat) that became ready for publication. The masu salmon chapter came back from peer review in January 2016. 

Later, its revision was completed in April 2016. 

Authors planned submitting the chum salmon chapter to the Chief Editor by the end of March 2016. In August 2016, they finalized 

it after peer review. The chapter on Chinook salmon completion again experienced delay compared with the planned dates by the 

end of April 2016. Authors drafted several subchapters on methods that need review and revision. Some of the finished chapters 

needed an update to include recent literature. 

When all chapters will be finished, the Chief Editor planned to standardize some of the figures and reporting, as well as write an 

Introduction. The goal was to send all reviewed and revised chapters to publisher by the end of July 2016. However, these plans were 

not carried out. Finally, the goal for book completion with printing was shifted to 2017. 

Other science and statistic-related activities are described in the “II.4. Scientific Research”, “II.6. Statistics” and “VI.2. 

Consideration of Scientific Research and Statistics” sections of the Annual Report. 

(c) Cooperation with relevant international organizations 

This section of the ED report begins from sub-chapter “Cooperation with UN and FAO”. The main topics covered in this subchapter 

include the 32nd FAO COFI Session and 6th Regional Fishery Body Secretariats Network (RSN) meeting in Rome. The 

Secretariat’s correspondence on conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction 

(ABNJ), global integrated marine assessment (Regular Process for Global Reporting and Assessment of the State of the Marine 

Environment, including Socio-economic Aspects), participation in the RSN activities, etc. is also described below. 

In February 2016, FIPI informed RSN members that the final dates of the 32nd FAO COFI Session and 6th RSN meeting in Rome 

had been set for 9 to 15 July 2016. In-person attendance at these meetings was budgeted for the 2015/2016 fiscal year since they 

were preliminary scheduled in June 2016. The Executive Director attended the 32nd meeting of FAO’s Committee on Fisheries and 

two sessions of 6th Meeting of the Regional Fishery Body Secretariats’ Network that were held in the FAO Headquarters in Rome, 

Italy, on July 9–15, 2016, responding to the FAO invitation received on April 25, 2016. 

The RSN-6 meeting provided a forum to foster cooperation among regional international fisheries bodies. Thirty-four secretaries 

participated in the meeting represented regional fisheries bodies with diverse mandates and from all geographic regions, including 


FAO and non-FAO regional fisheries bodies, and marine and inland fishery advisory and management bodies. 

At the meeting, discussion covered several subjects including conservation and the sustainable use of marine biological diversity 

in areas beyond national jurisdiction, and the Assistance Fund provided under Part VII of the 1995 Agreement for the Implementation 

of the Provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Issues related to the functioning and performance of 

regional fisheries bodies and the consolidation and development of the RSN were also discussed. The RSN Secretariat distributed 

background documents including the RSN Chair’s Statement delivered later at the 32nd Session of the Committee on Fisheries to 

support discussions. 

The ICCAT Executive Secretary, Driss Meski was elected as the RSN Chairperson during the second day of the meeting. He 

replaced outgoing RSN Chairperson, Stefan Asmundsson (NEAFC). 

The 32nd COFI meeting was attended by 108 members of 194 and more than 20 regional fisheries bodies and NGOs. Its central 

theme was the fight against illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing. The Committee took important decisions in the fight 

against IUU fishing, but stopped short of adopting guidelines on catch document schemes due to some technical and procedural 

issues. COFI expressed its support to further tackle IUU fishing through a global record of fishing vessels, by developing ways to 

estimate the scale of IUU fishing activities, and by organising an International Day for the Fight against IUU Fishing. 

The highlight of the COFI session was the high-level event to celebrate the entry into force on June 5, 2016 of the landmark FAO 

Port State Measures Agreement (PSMA) to prevent, deter and eliminate IUU fishing. More than 30 entities, including Republic 

of Korea and United States from the NPAFC member-countries, have ratified the PSMA to that date. Among the NPAFC member 

countries representatives, Ambassador David Balton from US took the opportunity to appreciate Norway for initiating the process 

and call on all states to join the signatories in its fight against IUU fishing and prevent IUU products from entering the market. 

Meeting audience welcomed FAO’s 2016 Report on the State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture (SOFIA-2016). According to 

the report, global per capita fish consumption for the first time has risen to above 20 kg per year, thanks to stronger aquaculture 

supply, record hauls for some key species and reduced wastage. However, almost a third of commercial fish stocks are now fished at 

biologically unsustainable levels, triple the level of 1974. 

COFI session promoted open and frank discussion on a role played by RFMOs/RFBs in the international fishery management and 

fishery stock conservation. Many participants highlighted the crucial role played by RFMOs/RFBs, noted the expansion of the RFBs 

network, and called to publicize these achievements, while recognizing that challenges remain. COFI expressed appreciation for the 

RSN role in promoting cooperation within the RFMOs/RFBs community and praised the support of FAO. The establishment of new 

RFMOs/RFBs, such as the Southern Indian Ocean Fisheries Agreement (SIOFA) and the North Pacific Fisheries Commission (NPFC), 

was highly appreciated. COFI also reiterated the calls for support to the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, the Caspian Sea, the Fishery 

Committee for the Eastern Central Atlantic (CECAF), and the Western Central Atlantic Fishery Commission (WECAFC) regions. 

Several member states expressed concern about the selection process of the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) Executive 

Secretary and called for an urgent solution that respects the IOTC legitimate rules and procedures. COFI emphasized the importance 

of regular and transparent performance reviews of RFMOs/RFBs and implementation of their relevant recommendations in a timely 

and effective manner. 

Another theme arising in the discussions was the need for FAO to improve cooperation with other relevant bodies and processes. 

This includes the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the UN process on conservation and sustainable use 

of marine biological diversity beyond areas of national jurisdiction, the Convention on Biological Diversity and the 2030 Agenda for 

Sustainable Development. International organisations dealing with oceans need to step up their coordination and cooperation to 

ensure that our oceans and seas are managed sustainably. 

Among other session topics, a proposal of the Republic of Korea should be mentioned for the establishment of an FAO World 

Fisheries University. In the course of the second half of 2017, the FAO Secretariat would prepare a proposal to the session of the FAO 

Council of April 2017, in light of an evaluation of the pilot programme. 

Within the COFI-32 and RSN-6 frameworks, the Executive Director also attended the Fishery Statistics Side Event entitled 

“Reliable fishery statistics and importance for food security assessments” as a part of an FAO project on “Innovative IT solutions 

to support Data needs for Blue Growth” and a brief Pacific RFMOs meeting to discuss how to strengthen inter-organizational 

collaboration. 


A detailed COFI-32 and RSN-6 meeting reports are available at http://www.fao.org/3/a-mr484e.pdf and http://www.fao.org/3/ai6597e.pdf 

On July 20, 2016, FAO requested a feedback on the COFI-32 with a brief evaluation of the meeting. That was conducted with 

a recommendation to recognise the RSN as a speaker at a session on the role played by RFMOs/RFBs in the international fishery 

management at the future meetings and give RSN more time to describe its activity and make a statement. 

In 2016, the Secretariat also communicated with the UN DOALOS, FAO FIPI, the RSN Secretariat and other UN and FAO bodies on 

a number of other issues. On 19 June 2015, the UN General Assembly adopted resolution 69/292 “Development of an international 

legally binding instrument under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the conservation and sustainable use 

of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction”. The Preparatory Committee under the leadership of Deputy 

Permanent Representative of the Permanent Mission of Trinidad and Tobago to UN, Mr. Eden Charles started its work in 2016 to 

prepare a progress report to the Assembly by the end of 2017. The Secretariat received an invitation to join a preparatory process, in 

particular first and second sessions of the Preparatory Committee from 28 March to 8 April 2016 and from 26 August to 9 September 

2016, respectively. The Preparatory Committee meetings covered such matters as a scope of developing international legally binding 

instrument, relationship with other instruments, guiding approaches and principles, measures such as area-based management tools, 

and capacity building. After consultation with the NPAFC President Mr. Junichiro Okamoto, the Secretariat welcomed the initiation of 

discussions on the matter of conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of ABNJ. However, in-person attendance 

of the NPAFC representative at the Preparatory Committee sessions seems to be not necessary. 

In January 2016, the Secretariat received an invitation letter to NPAFC from Ms. Gabriele Goettsche-Wanli, DOALOS Director, 

to attend the 12th round of Informal Consultations of State Parties to the Agreement for the Implementation of the Provisions of 

the UNCLOS relating to the 1995 Fish Stock Agreement in New York on March 23-24, 2016. The meeting addresses a preparatory 

work for the resumed Review Conference including consideration of reporting material for updated UN Secretary-General Report, 

discussion of priorities and identification of areas of focus for the resumed Review Conference. At the 11th round of the Informal 

Consultations in March 2015, few State Parties’ delegations expressed support for holding a twelfth round before the resumed Review 

Conference in order to discuss some controversial matters related to the Conference while other delegations stated the preference 

not to have another round in order to reduce travel expenses. The main point of controversy is related to a growing political 

recognition of small island developing states (SIDS), including their rights to participate in fisheries on the high seas. Moreover, an 

active SIDS involvement into negotiations is challenged by depleted state of the Assistance Fund. Since the main questions of 12th 

round of Informal Consultations did not relate to the NPAFC mandate, the Secretariat did not schedule the 12th round with sufficient 

notice for in-person attendance. 

In February 2016, the Secretariat received a letter from the Bureau of the Ad Hoc Working Group of the Whole on the Regular 

Process that should continue the consideration of lessons learned from the first cycle of the Regular Process (2010-2014). The UN 

General Assembly adopted resolution 70/235 on “Oceans and the law of the sea,” in which it welcomed the first global integrated 

marine assessment and approved its summary on 23 December 2015. The Regular Process report was published (http://www.un.org/ 

Depts/los/global_reporting/WOA_RegProcess.htm) through the DOALOS website in January 2016 (draft was available since August 

5th, 2015). In February 2016, the Bureau invites the NPAFC among other international organizations to send, in writing, its views 

on lessons learned from the first cycle of the Regular Process and contribute to an inventory of available information on recent and 

ongoing assessments and other relevant processes at the regional and global levels. In general, the Regular Process report is similar 

to dozens of other multi-authored monographs. Content of its chapters reflects opinions of a small group of contributors based on 

specific studies and data sources rather than to be a comprehensive review of agreed common understandings on described issues. 

Thus, Chapter 36C “The North Pacific” describes the stock conditions of Pacific salmon as extremely poor based on examples of 

British Columbia coho and Japanese masu salmon stocks. The Table on interregional comparison of levels in biomass or abundance 

indices of fishes and invertebrates since 2003 compared to 1990-2002 shows decline or “no changes” status for pink salmon, while 

this salmon reached the highest level of abundance in 2009, 2013, and 2015. Chapter 13 “Fish Stock Propagation” has no information 

on Pacific salmon from the Asian side of the North Pacific. As a response to this invitation, the Secretariat prepared information on 

the NPAFC Statistics database that contains of Pacific Salmonid catch and hatchery release data. These data are open to public and 

could contribute to the inventory of available information on recent and ongoing assessments and other processes at the regional 

and global levels relevant to the Regular Process. This information was submitted to DOALOS on February 15, 2016. 

After 24th NPAFC Annual Meeting, the Secretariat received a letter from the Bureau of the Ad Hoc Working Group of the Whole 

on the Regular Process in June 2016. UN General Assembly requested the Bureau to continue the consideration of lessons learned 

from the first cycle of the Regular Process with a view to the implementation of the second cycle. Member States, observers and 


other participants in the Working Group were invited, through the Co-Chairs, to contribute by sending their views in writing to the 

Bureau and Bureau planned to convene one or more informal open meetings. To prepare the seventh Working Group meeting, the 

NPAFC, among other RFMOs, was invited to a second informal open meeting of the Ad Hoc Working Group of the Whole, which was 

convened at the UN Headquarters on June 10, 2016. 

In February 2016, the FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Policy and Economics Division (FIPI) invited RFMOs to participate in the 

2nd meeting of the Global Record Informal Open-Ended Technical and Advisory Working Group in Rome, 21-23 March 2016, in an 

observer capacity. The draft agenda for this meeting included discussion of legal and technical aspects of implementation of unique 

vessel identifiers (UVI) as an essential prerequisite for a successful Global Record. Participants should evaluate the need for an expert 

and technical consultation to start development of an international instrument to govern the rules and procedures and provide the 

framework to define minimum requirements for the Global Record in line with the Port State Measures Agreement, and provide advice 

concerning the development of standards and mechanisms for data exchange. The matter under WG’s consideration is not highly 

relevant to the NPAFC activities, and attendance at the meeting was not budgeted for the 2015/2016 fiscal year. 

On June 17, 2016, the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD, United Nations Environment Programme) invited 

NPAFC to participate in a meeting on the Sustainable Ocean Initiative Global Dialogue with Regional Seas Organizations and Regional 

Fisheries Bodies on Accelerating Progress towards the Aichi Biodiversity Targets, which was convened in Seoul, Republic of Korea, 

on September 26–29, 2016. The main goal of this meeting was to facilitate cross-sectoral regional-scale dialogue and coordination in 

supporting the CBD efforts to strengthen the critical linkage between biodiversity conservation and sustainable development. The 

NPAFC Vice-President, Jeongseok Park kindly agreed to represent the Commission at the Global Dialog meeting in Seoul. 

In 2016, the Secretariat submitted two articles to the Regional Fishery Body Secretariats Network (RSN) Newsletter upon the 

invitation of the RSN secretariat. As for RSN Newsletter No. 13, Nancy Davis prepared an announcement of the NPAFC Bulletin # 6 

publication in autumn of 2016. It was submitted on February 26, 2016. On October 19, 2016, an article “North Pacific Anadromous 

Fish Commission Planning – 25th Anniversary in 2017” was prepared (http://www.fao.org/fi/static-media/MeetingDocuments/RSN/ 

Newsletter/No13Dec2016.pdf) for the RSN Newsletter issued in December 2016 

Further development of NPAFC-PICES cooperation is a standing item on the NPAFC Secretariat agenda. On January 29, 2016, 

PICES informed subscribers that a new PICES Press issue was available (https://www.pices.int/publications/pices_press/volume24/ 

PPJan2016.pdf). In an editorial, PICES Science Board Chairperson Thomas Therriault mentioned that PICES continued to foster 

collaborations with the NPAFC using the framework for strategic collaboration that was adopted in 2014, by supporting the “Pacific 

salmon and steelhead production in a changing climate” symposium in Kobe, Japan, May 17–19, 2015. 

On 15-16 March 2016, PICES Chairperson Dr. Laura Richards participated at the 2nd IYS Scoping Meeting in Vancouver. PICES 

is interested in being a research partner in the IYS initiative implementation as a part of the NPAFC-PICES Framework for Enhanced 

Scientific Cooperation in the North Pacific Ocean. The NPAFC-PICES cooperation includes co-sponsorship in an international 

symposia including one that may be organized to kick-start the IYS implementation. 

In November 2016, after consultations with CSRS Chairman, Dr. Igor Melnikov, the Executive Director attended at the 25th PICES 

Annual Meeting in San Diego, USA on November 6–11, 2016, as the NPAFC observer. At the PICES Science Board meeting, recent 

developments of the International Year of the Salmon (IYS) project were presented and PICES representatives were invited to join 

the IYS North Pacific Steering Committee and IYS Symposium Steering Committee. The PICES Governing Council readily accepted 

this invitation. At the PICES Fisheries Committee (FIS) meeting, more details about activities of mutual interest were provided to 

the participants: on the 2nd IYS Scoping Meeting in Vancouver in March 2016, publication of the 2015 International Symposium 

proceedings in the NPAFC Bulletin No. 6, preparation of Technical Report #10, the NPAFC database on Pacific salmon catches and 

hatchery releases updates, etc. A promotional and informational IYS poster was presented at the poster session on November 8-10, 

2016. 

The NPAFC Newsletter article “Fishery Science for Tomorrow—PICES 25th Anniversary from the Viewpoint of NPAFC” contains 

a brief on the NPAFC-PICES collaboration and commemorative events at the 2016 PICES Annual Meeting in San Diego (http://www. 

npafc.org/new/publications/Newsletter/41/31-40_pices.pdf). 

Mr. Minho Kang, who completed the NPAFC Internship program with distinction in the 2015/16 fiscal year, obtained positive 

recommendation and successfully applied for the PICES Internship program in the 2016/17 fiscal year. Mr Kang is well positioned to 

serve both organizations to enhance their cooperation in future. 


There was an expectation that the cooperation between the NPAFC and NPFC will be notably intensified after the NPFC structure 

will be finalized in August 2016 (see details in the NPAFC Newsletter No. 39, p. 24-32). 

In February 2016, the NPFC Executive Secretary Dr. Dae-Yeon Moon requested the Executive Director to support the NPFC 

Secretariat staffing with a reference letter for Alexander Zavolokin, who is the NPAFC Science Sub-Committee member from Russia 

since 2010. Upon receiving the requested letter, Dr. Moon mentioned that this may be a good example of cooperation between 

NPAFC and NPFC through which both of organizations would benefit by receiving well-trained experts from the each side. 

In March 2016, the Secretariat received an invitation to participate the 1st NPFC Scientific Meeting in Tokyo in April 2016. CSRS 

Chairman Dr. Loh-Lee Low attended that meeting as the NPAFC observer. 

Upon the NPFC invitation received on June 6, 2016, the Executive Director attended at the 2nd NPFC Annual Meeting as the 

NPAFC observer in Tokyo on August 22–26, 2016. The NPFC Annual Meeting consisted of three events: 1st Meeting of the Technical 

and Compliance Committee (TCC), 1st Meeting of the Finance and Administration Special Working Group (SWGF&A), and 2nd 

Annual Meeting itself. 

At the TCC meeting, the NPFC Secretariat gave a presentation on plans for creating a list of RFOs/RFMOs with which to establish 

liaison, and to initiate discussions on the types of liaison that would be appropriate. In the ensuing discussion, it was noted that 

given the recent establishment of the NPFC, for the time being, priority should be given to the establishment of Conservation and 

Management Measures (CMMs) and Monitoring, Control, and Surveillance (MCS) measures, and that the type of liaison should 

currently be limited to observer attendance. 

At the SWGF&A session, the NPFC Secretariat staff was supported by several of the Commission’s decisions: on paying staff a set 

salary amount in Japanese yen to avoid exchange rate issues, reimbursement to the NPFC Secretariat staff including locally engaged 

employees an income tax entirely, and paying accommodation and education allowances to foreign employees as of August 2016. 

Then, the SWGF&A recommended establishing a standing Committee for Finance and Administration (FAC) and to close its meetings 

to observers “unless decided otherwise by members of the Commission”. SWGF&A also recommended revising the information 

security management system, media access policy, and a policy on external expert invitation to work in the NPFC Secretariat 

according to suggestions submitted by members through correspondence, while also referring to the systems and policies of other 

RFMOs. 

After discussion, the NPFC Annual Meeting adopted TCC and SWGF&A reports with minor changes. E.g., the FAC meetings will 

be open to the Commission members, cooperating non-contracting parties, and observer states (not RFMOs or NGOs). Most of 

the considered CMMs were also adopted for exception of CMM on IUU Fishing, since two Parties noted their concern that the term 

“flag Member” does not match the terminology used in the NPFC Convention. It is remarkable that the NPFC decided to co-sponsor 

the PICES International Symposium on Drivers of Dynamics of Small Pelagic Fish Resources that was held on March 6–11, 2017, in 

Victoria, Canada, with a contribution of 200,000 yen. 

On behalf of the NPAFC, in closing remarks, the Executive Director offered its continued cooperation to the NPFC and extended 

an invitation for the NPFC to attend the 25th NPAFC Annual Meeting that will be held from May 15 to 19, 2017, in Victoria, B.C., 

Canada. The entire 2nd NPFC Annual Meeting report is available from the NPFC website at http://npfc.r-cms.jp/files/topics/956_ 

ext_05_0.pdf 

On September 5, 2016, the NPFC Executive Secretary, Dr. Dae-Yeon Moon wrote a letter to the NPAFC Secretariat. He expressed 

a great satisfaction of the progress of “forming a bridge between NPAFC and NPFC” and mentioned, in the meantime, that discussion 

within NPFC on cooperation with other RFMOs goes slower than he would have hoped. Dr. Moon proposed continuing exchange 

visits to each other’s meetings to facilitate future cooperation between the two organizations, congratulated NPAFC on the 25th 

Anniversary and assured that NPFC will be present to celebrate the quarter-century history of the Commission. 

Dr. Moon also participated in the Pacific RFMOs meeting in Rome in July 2016. After this meeting, he consulted several times 

on different issues of the secretariat functioning: the Executive Secretary’s performance review, organizing of tender process, and 

special aspects of contract with foreign suppliers. Such information exchange was very useful since the CCALMR (Andrew Wright), 

CCSBT (Robert Kennedy), PICES (Robin Brown), and SPRFMO (Johanne Fischer) also posted their responses to the raised questions. 

The NPAFC and PSC secretariats continued a series of regular (quarterly) consultations to exchange opinions and information, 


discuss matters of mutual interest, and develop a mutual stance on the key issues of Pacific salmon conservation. Three meetings 

(two at the NPAFC Secretariat office and one at the PSC Secretariat office) were conducted on 10 March, 29 June and 15 December 

2016. On 15-16 March 2016, PSC Executive Secretary Mr. John Field participated at the 2nd IYS Scoping Meeting in Vancouver. 

Collaboration with NASCO continued in 2016 mostly within the IYS framework. Since July 2015, NASCO Executive Secretary, 

Dr. Peter Hutchinson, and Head of the U.S. delegation to NASCO, Mr. Daniel Morris, joined an informal “small organizational group” 

to formalize the arrangements between the two commissions. Six conference calls were conducted in the course to prepare the 

2nd IYS Scoping Meeting in March 2016. The NASCO delegation participated at the scoping meeting with presentations on their 

SALSEA ocean studies, further plans in development of salmon telemetry tagging networks, and their vision of the IYS initiative 

implementation (see also section III. The 2016 IYS Scoping Meeting). 

In June 2016, the IYS WG Chairman, Mark Saunders delivered the NPAFC IYS WG proposal (NPAFC Doc. 1663) at the NASCO 33rd 

Annual Meeting in Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler, Germany upon the NASCO invitation. The NASCO Council unanimously approved the 

proposal. Essentially, that meant that the IYS was launched. The Council has assigned Peter Hutchinson Daniel Morris, as members 

of the IYS Coordinating Committee. 

NASCO has recommended that 2019 be designated as the IYS focal year and that the fall of 2018 be considered for the Symposium 

so that the science and management will be well established at the start of the focal year. NASCO further agreed that it would make a 

sum of £60,000 available through the 2017 budget for an IYS Special Fund to be used in accordance with a spending plan proposed 

by the North Atlantic Steering Committee and to be agreed by the Parties. 

NASCO has made an important clarification to the IYS governance arrangements in that the Coordinating Committee will conduct 

its work in accordance with recommendations from the RFMO Steering Committees. It restricted the IYS Coordinating Committee 

rights as an overarching decision making body. However, Mark Saunders agreed on NPAFC’s behalf with this approach as an 

intermediary solution. The NASCO approval followed the NPAFC adoption of the IYS proposal as a basis for the intersessional work 

on the IYS project implementation. 

Since August 2016, the NASCO became the NPAFC co-contractor in implementation of the DFO – NPAFC Contribution Agreement 

for the International Year of the Salmon. IYS operating funds were allocated in 2016/17 by Canada and the United States for regional 

implementation within the Pacific and within the Atlantic including support for administration and management of the initiative, 

coordination of steering committees’ meetings, website and logo design, symposium expenses, research and outreach planning, 

and development of a funding strategy. Within this agreement, the Secretariat developed and administered job contracts for the IYS 

Coordinator and Administrator, and managed available funds. 

The Secretariat maintained collaboration with the West & Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) in the framework of the 

Memorandum of Cooperation signed by both organizations in 2010. In March 2016, the WCPFC distributed the 2016 IUU vessel list, 

which included no new vessels and maintained those three from the previous year's list. Updated information on the most recent 

sightings for three listed IUU vessels was provided. The Secretariat immediately communicated this information and WCPFC request 

to assist in their location to the ENFO PoCs. In October 16, 2016, the WCPFC Executive Director Dr. Feleti Teo sent a letter to seek 

cooperation in locating and providing any information on the vessels of the WCPFC IUU list for their further consideration during 

upcoming 13th WCPFC Regular Annual Session in Nadi, Fiji on December 5–9, 2016. The list included no new vessels and maintained 

the three from the previous year's list. The Secretariat prepared a draft response to the WCPFC letter based on reports submitted 

by Parties to biweekly email conferences in 2016. It also contains information from the NPAFC Vessel of Interest List that the ENFO 

recommended to circulate to other RFMOs with a technical compliance function at the 24th Annual Meeting in Busan, Republic of 

Korea. After draft approval by ENFO PoCs, the letter was sent to WCPFC on November 22, 2016. 

As for communications with other relevant international organizations, on August 2, 2016, the Secretariat received an electronic 

version of the Report of the 34th Session of the Asia-Pacific Fishery Commission (APFIC) that was held in Colombo, Sri Lanka, 

February 12–14, 2016. The submission was appreciated. 

On September 20, 2016, the Secretariat was informed that a new issue of the ICCAT Newsletter (#24) is now available on the 

ICCAT website. 

On July 8, 2016, the former RSN Chair, Mr. Stefan Asmundsson of NEAFC, distributed the article titled “Regional Fisheries 

Management Organizations (RFMOs): Who are they, what is their geographic coverage on the high seas and which ones should be 


considered as General RFMOs, Tuna RFMOs and Specialized RFMOs?” The submission was appreciated. 

(d) NPAFC Performance Review 

Most of the recommendations included in the List of Actions (LoA) on the Prioritized Recommendations from the NPAFC 

Performance Review Report (PRR) have been completed. Two actions were in progress under ENFO supervision at the time of 2016 

Annual Meeting (Appendix 2). 

At the 2016 Annual Meeting, ENFO recommended that the List of Actions Recommendation No. 24 (encourage the Parties 

to become parties to the Agreement on Port State Measures) remain on the agenda until all NPAFC Parties have ratified the PSM 

Agreement, and ENFO will analyze the applicability of the Agreement to the NPAFC context. Considering engagement with the NPFC, 

the United States proposed to intensify the information exchange between the NPAFC and NPFC secretariats. 

(e) Publications 

The following publications were produced during the reported period: 

○○ 

NPAFC Handbook Third Edition; 

○○ 

Records of the Annual Meeting 2016 (in print); 

○○ 

Annual Report 2015 (on CD-ROM and website); 

○○ 

Newsletters Nos. 40, 41 (on the website); 

○○ 

NPAFC Bulletin No. 6. 

The NPAFC website has been kept up to date and webpages enhanced. The Secretariat continued to translate five key web pages 

into the Commission’s languages. 

(f) Secretariat’s performance 

During the reporting period, the Secretariat staff changed significantly. Ms. Wakako Morris retired on January 15, 2016 after 30 

years of service for INPFC and NPAFC. Deputy Director, Dr. Nancy Davis retired on December 31, 2016. 

All Secretariat staff members performed their duties in accordance with the Rules of Procedure, Financial Rules, Staff Rules, 

decisions of the Commission, updated job descriptions, and Secretariat Business Plan. The work plans for the Secretariat staff 

were created and implemented. At the completion of the 2015/2016 fiscal year, Executive Director reviewed the Secretariat staff 

performance and professional development plans for a new fiscal year. 


V. 6. Consideration of Enforcement 

At the 2016 Annual Meeting, the Commission received from Mr. Oleg Volkov, Chairperson of the Committee on Enforcement, 

the Report of the ENFO (Doc. 1667), which contained information on the committee’s cooperative efforts to conduct enforcement 

activities in the Convention Area. After review, the Commission adopted the ENFO report, including its recommendations. 

V. 7. Consideration of Scientific Research and Statistics 

At the 2016 Annual Meeting, the Commission received from Dr. Loh-Lee Low, Chairperson of the Committee on Scientific Research 

and Statistics (CSRS), the Report of the CSRS (Doc. 1668). Report contains preliminary information on the Pacific salmon catches 

(Table 8) and enhancement production in 2015, and on multiyear trends of catches and hatchery releases. The report also contained 

information on cooperative scientific activities conducted by CSRS. After review, the Commission adopted the CSRS report, including 

its recommendations. 

Salmon Catches 

Table 8. Preliminary 2015 commercial salmon catches in Canada, Japan, Korea, Russia, and the United States. Commercial catches 

by foreign fleets in the Russian EEZ are not included. Japanese catch data are based on Fisheries Research Agency data sources, not 

official statistics. Commercial catch weight for Alaska is based on landed weight (Alaska Department of Fish and Game). 

(a) Preliminary 2015 commercial catch in millions of fish. 

Sockeye Pink Chum Coho Chinook Cherry Steelhead Total 

Canada 1.215 1.437 2.292 0.298 0.188 - - 5.432 

Japan - 1.868 39.707 0.008 0.002 - - 41.585 

Korea - - 0.156 - - - - 0.156 

Russia 18.195 118.272 46.515 4.725 0.159 0.005 - 187.872 

USA 54.868 191.623 19.527 4.024 1.655 - 0.062 271.759 

Alaska 54.756 191.623 18.397 3.892 0.547 - - 268.312 

WOC 0.112 0.902 1.130 0.132 1.109 - 0.062 3.447 

Total 74.278 313.200 108.198 9.055 2.004 0.005 0.063 506.804 

WOC: Washington, Oregon, and California 

(b) Preliminary 2015 commercial catch in metric tonnes (round weight). 

Sockeye Pinkx Chum Coho Chinook Cherry Steelhead Total 

Canada 2,686 2,247 10,674 784 1,154 - - 17,545 

Japan 2 3,348 133,660 22 10 571 - 137,613 

Korea - - 488 - - - - 488 

Russia 46,591 162,800 143,679 14,589 900 8 - 368,568 

USA 133,175 293,162 67,371 12,418 8,295 - 212 514,634 

Alaska 132,981 291,923 63,054 12,071 3,018 - - 503,047 

WOC 194 1,239 4,317 347 5,277 - 212 11,587 

Total 182,455 461,557 355,872 27,814 10,358 579 212 1,038,848 



Canada (Doc. 1654 Rev.1) 

This document reports final catch estimates for 2014 and preliminary catch estimates for 2015 for the six major salmon 

species in British Columbia (B.C.) and Yukon fisheries. Catch is reported for commercial fisheries (numbers and total weight) 

in tidal waters and recreational (numbers only) and aboriginal fisheries (numbers only) in tidal and non-tidal waters. Catches 

include non-Canadian origin fish caught in B.C. and exclude Canadian origin fish caught in fisheries outside B.C. A historical 

overview (1967-2013) of recreational freshwater catches for steelhead is also provided. 

Japan (Doc. 1636) 

The preliminary commercial catches in coastal and offshore areas of Japan in 2015 totaled 41.6 million fish (138 thousand 

metric tonnes), including 39.7 million chum (134 thousand metric tonnes) and 1.9 million pink (three thousand metric tonnes) 

salmon. Official specific statistics data may be available by the end of March 2017. 

Korea (Doc. 1649 Rev. 3) 

Total catch of chum salmon was 156,015 fish or 488.0 metric tonnes in 2015. Among these, 127,627 fish or 412.2 metric 

tonnes were caught from the coastal areas for commercial purpose (i.e., mostly the set-net fishery) and 28,388 fish and 75.8 

metric tonnes were caught from the rivers for artificial propagation in hatchery. Total catch of chum salmon (number) along the 

coasts (81.8%) was higher than in rivers (18.2%). Average weight of chum salmon in 2015 was 2.67 kg, lower than the average 

weight in 2014 (2.85 kg). 

Russia (Doc. 1430 Rev.1, 1565 Rev.4, 1624) 

Documents revising 2011 and 2014 catch statistics were submitted (Docs. 1403 Rev. 1, 1565 Rev. 4). In 2015, the total 

commercial catch of Pacific salmon in the Russian Far East was 187.9 million fish, or 368.6 thousand metric tonnes. The primary 

species caught were pink (44.2% by weight), followed by chum (39.0%), sockeye salmon (12.6%), and coho salmon (4.0%) (Doc. 

1624). 

United States 

Alaska 

The 2015 Alaska salmon commercial harvest of all salmon species totaled 268.3 million fish, or 503.0 thousand metric 

tonnes. The catch composition by landed weight in Alaska was 58.0% pink, 26.4% sockeye, 12.5% chum, 2.4% coho, and < 1% 

Chinook salmon. 

Washington, Oregon, and California 

The 2015 preliminary total commercial catches of salmon and steelhead trout landed in Washington, Oregon, and California 

was 3.4 million fish, or 11.6 thousand metric tonnes. The commercial catch composition by weight in Washington, Oregon, and 

California was 45.5% Chinook, 37.3% chum, 10.7% pink, and 3.0% coho salmon, 1.8% steelhead trout, and 1.7% sockeye salmon. 

Photo credit: Vladimir Radchenko 


Salmon Enhancement Production 

The Working Group on Stock Assessment in cooperation with the Secretariat compiled preliminary 2015 hatchery releases of 

juvenile salmon and steelhead from documents and emails received by the Commission (Table 9). The total number of hatchery 

fish released from NPAFC member countries in 2014 was 5.2 billion fish, a quantity that has been quite stable since 1993. In 2015, 

hatcheries released 1,942 million fish (38%) in the United States, 1,874 million (36%) in Japan, 1,023 million (20%) in Russia, 295 

million (6%) in Canada, and 28 million (< 1%) in Korea. Hatchery releases were primarily chum (3,203 million, 62%) and pink salmon 

(1,365 million, 26%), followed by sockeye (268 million, 5%), Chinook (224 million, 4%), and coho salmon (72 million, 1%), steelhead 

trout (21 million, < 1%), and cherry salmon (9 million, < 1%). 

Table 9. Preliminary 2015 hatchery releases in NPAFC member countries in millions of fish. 


Canada 182.94 8.060 59.173 9.261 35.518 - 0.253 294.758 

Japan 0.218 116.639 1,748.570 - - 8.912 - 1,874.339 

Korea - - 27.650 - - - - 27.650 

Russia 14.464 292.153 712.723 2.882 0.894 0.218 - 1,023.334 

USA 70.486 947.676 654.732 60.327 187.861 - 21.239 1.942.321 

Alaska 58.617 947.676 607.912 25.829 8.959 - - 1,648.993 

WOCI 11.869 - 46.820 34.498 178.902 - 21.239 293.328 

Total 267.662 1,364.527 3,202.848 72.471 224.273 9.130 21.491 5,162.402 

WOCI: Washington, Oregon, California, and Idaho 

Canada (Doc. 1654 Rev.1) 

As well as catch data, this document also summarizes release information for salmon including steelhead trout from Fisheries 

and Oceans Canada (DFO) and Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC enhancement facilities in BC in 2014 and 2015. In 2015, 

releases totaled 294.8 million fish comprising spawning-channel produced sockeye (61.9%), chum (20.1%), Chinook (12.1%), 

coho (3.1%), pink (2.7%), and steelhead trout (< 1%). 

Japan (Doc. 1637) 

Four species of anadromous Pacific salmon (chum, pink, cherry, and sockeye salmon) are currently enhanced in Japan. A 

total of 1,874 million fry, juveniles, and smolts were released from Japanese hatcheries in 2015. The number of chum salmon fry 

released in the spring of 2015 was approximately 1,749 million fish (93% of total releases). Japanese hatcheries also released 117 

million pink salmon fry (6% of total), 8,912 thousand cherry salmon fry, juveniles and smolts (< 1%), and 218 thousand sockeye 

salmon fry and smolts (< 1%) in the spring and fall of 2015. 

Korea (Doc. 1649 Rev. 3) 

The total number chum salmon fry released was 27,650 thousand fish in 2015 (2014 brood) and 21,800 thousand fish in 2016 

(2015 brood). No other salmon species were released. 

Russia (Doc. 1624) 

In 2015, Russian hatcheries released 1,023 million Pacific salmon fry and smolts. Releases comprised 69.7% chum, 28.6% 

pink 1.4% sockeye, and

United States 

Alaska 

Alaskan hatcheries released 1,649 million salmon in 2015. Of the fish released, 57.5% were pink, 36.9% were chum, 3.6% 

were sockeye, 1.6% were coho, and < 1% were Chinook salmon. 

Washington, Oregon, California, and Idaho 

In 2015, releases for Washington, Oregon, California and Idaho totaled 293.3 million fish. These releases comprised 70.0% 

Chinook, 16.0% chum, 11.8% coho salmon, 7.2% steelhead trout, and 4.1% sockeye salmon. 

Temporal Patterns of Pacific Salmon Abundance and Hatchery Releases 

Pacific salmon abundance in the North Pacific, as indexed by aggregate commercial catches, remains at near all-time high levels 

(Figure 7). Since 1989, the highest catches on record attained more than one million metric tonnes (i.e., 1989, 1991, 1993–1999, 

2001, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, and 2015). More recently, there are more adult salmon caught in odd-numbered years than even years 

because the most frequent species in the catch, pink salmon, are most abundant in odd-numbered years. The total catch in 2015 was 

1,039 thousand metric tonnes, which continues the recent trend of over 1 million metric tonnes in the last five odd-numbered years 

(2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, and 2015). 

Pink and chum salmon dominate Asian catches. In general catches remain at high levels, although the trend over the last 10 years 

for catches in odd-numbered years may be showing a decreasing trend (Figure 8). For chum salmon, Russia currently catches the 

largest proportion of the Asian catch, although in earlier years, Japan often caught a greater proportion; catches by the Republic of 

Korea are relatively minor. 

In North America, the relative abundance of salmon species varies from north to south. In Alaska, pink and sockeye salmon are the 

primary species, followed by chum salmon. In Canada, sockeye, pink, and chum salmon have historically comprised the largest catch, 

while in Washington, Oregon, and California, Chinook and coho salmon are the most abundant species. In 2013 and 2015, particularly 

high catches of pink salmon have resulted in record high total catches of salmon in North America. Interannual variability in the catch 

of various species in North America has been more pronounced during the last decade than in previous decades (Figure9). 

North Pacific salmon hatchery statistics have been fairly stable during the last 28 years at a total of approximately 5 billion fish 

released (Figure 10). Asian hatchery production has generally been greater than 2.5 billion releases since 1981, with the exception of 

reduced chum salmon releases in 2011 (Figure 11). Asian hatchery releases are predominately chum salmon. 

North American hatchery production has been greater than 2 billion releases since 1988. Pink and chum salmon are the primary 

species released from North American hatcheries, mostly from Alaska (Figure 12). The relatively large numbers of Canadian 

enhanced sockeye salmon are produced in spawning channels. In Washington, Oregon, and California, Chinook salmon are the 

primary species produced. 


Figure 8. North Pacific commercial catch (thousands of metric tonnes) of Pacific salmon by species from 1925 to 2015 (2015 catches 

are preliminary). 

Figure 9. Asian commercial catch (thousands of metric tonnes) of Pacific salmon by species from 1925 to 2015 (2015 catches are 

preliminary). 


Figure 10. North American commercial catch (thousands of metric tonnes) of Pacific salmon by species from 1925 to 2015 (2015 

catches are preliminary). 

Figure 11. Annual North Pacific hatchery releases (millions of fish) of Pacific salmon by member countries from 1971 to 2015. 


Figure 12. Annual Asian hatchery releases (millions of fish) of Pacific salmon by species from 1952 to 2015. 

Figure 13. Annual North American hatchery releases (millions of fish) of Pacific salmon by species from 1952 to 2015. 


Review of Scientific Research Activities in Relation to the 2011-2015 NPAFC Science Plan Components (Articles VII, IX 6. 

and 8. ToR 3 and 13) (Docs. 1657, 1661) 

Abstracts of scientific documents submitted to the Commission between adjournment of the 2015 Annual Meeting and April 25, 

2016, were compiled in Doc. 1657. 

After Doc. 1657 was submitted, eight documents (seven new documents and one revised 2015 document) were submitted for 

consideration at the 2016 CSRS meeting. The complete list of new documents submitted to the Commission after the 2015 Annual 

Meeting is shown in Doc. 1614. 

In total, forty-three documents were submitted for consideration by CSRS at the 2016 meeting. The number of documents 

submitted by the Parties, working groups, or the Secretariat include thefollowing: 

○○ 

Canada: n=5 

○○ 

Japan: n=10 

○○ 

Korea: n=3 

○○ 

Russia: n=7 

○○ 

United States: n=11 

○○ 

Canada-US joint document n=1 

Working Groups: 

○○ 

Science Sub-Committee and Review Panels n=1 

○○ 

Science Sub-Committee n=1 

○○ 

International Year of the Salmon Working Group n=2 

○○ 

Working Group on Salmon Tagging n=1 

○○ 

Secretariat n=1 

Three documents submitted in 2015 were revised (Docs. 1587 Rev. 1, 1565 Rev. 4, 1591 Rev. 2), and one document submitted in 

2012 was revised (Doc. 1430 Rev. 1). 

One document was a bibliographic reference of Russian publications in 2015 linked to the Science Plan (Doc. 1645). 

The Science Sub-Committee and Review Panels reviewed cooperative research of the 2011–2015 Science Plan by assessing 

progress on the five components of the plan (Doc. 1661): 

○○ 

migration and survival mechanisms of juvenile salmon in ocean ecosystems; 

○○ 

climate impacts on Pacific salmon production in the Bering Sea (BASIS) and adjacent waters; 

○○ 

winter survival of Pacific salmon in North Pacific Ocean ecosystems; 

○○ 

biological monitoring of key salmon populations; and 

○○ 

development and applications of stock identification methods and models for management of Pacific salmon. 

Authors concluded that accurate forecasting of salmon abundances is of great importance to management and for anticipating future 

variations in production affected by a changing climate. In addition, precise pre-season forecasts increase economic efficiency of 

the salmon industry, enable managers and resource stakeholders to predict harvest with more certainty, and help promote resource 

sustainability. Accurate forecasting requires considering the ecological mechanisms that regulate salmon production in the ocean. 

It is important for all countries to understand how to optimize the early marine survival of salmon by designing cooperative research 

programs throughout the distribution of juvenile salmon. Marine survival varies as a result of the conditions in the early marine 

coastal environment and possibly as a consequence of the summer and winter rearing areas in the open ocean. It is necessary to 

identify the stock-specific seasonal distribution of Pacific salmon from all countries in the open ocean to better understand the ocean 

capacity to produce Pacific salmon, and how climate change affects the future distribution and production of each population. 

In presentations to CSRS, each country provided a summary highlighting their research activities. 


Japan: 

Japan provided two presentations. The first was a summary of results from research surveys conducted in the Bering Sea 

from the R/V Hokko maru. Salmon of all five primary species were sampled and the catch was correlated with oceanographic 

conditions and ecosystem measurements. 

The primary focus was chum salmon for which catches of immature fish were compared with adult returns. The catch per unit 

effort (CPUE) of ocean age two fish was used to predict total returns whereas the relationship with other year classes was less 

predictive presumably due to year class maturation variability. Japan’s second presentation summarized a monitoring program on 

the Okhotsk Sea coast of Hokkaido. Research suggested that a weak Soya Warm Current in 2011 may have negatively impacted 

outmigrating chum juveniles from which smaller returns materialized in 2014 and 2015. 

Canada: 

Canada shared juvenile salmon research conducted in waters off British Columbia and in the Bering Sea. Topics addressed 

included sampling for Fraser River sockeye salmon in Johnstone Strait and impacts from bird predation which suggested the 

birds were feeding on weaker fish. Stock compositions of sockeye salmon collected in the Bering Sea by the R/V Hokko maru 

(Japan) showed a higher contribution of Canadian origin fish in 2015 (~8%). Climate impacts focused on the “warm Blob” that 

materialized in 2014, but research showed that this oceanic feature did not result in widespread salmon recruitment failures, but 

did influence return timing and size at age traits. Similarly, warm dry weather conditions in 2015 impacted returning sockeye 

salmon in the Columbia River where an estimated 430,000 sockeye passed Bonneville Dam, yet only 11,000 reached the terminal 

spawning area. Finally, Canada highlighted recent advances in genetics including a parental based tagging approach as a 

potential tagging alternative. 

Russia: 

Russia provided five presentations. The first highlighted migration and survival mechanisms of juvenile fish including 

sockeye salmon near the western coast of Kamchatka, pink salmon in the western Bering Sea, and chum salmon the Sea of 

Okhotsk with the goal of developing forecast models predicting adult returns. The second presentation investigated winter 

survival strategies and initial results showed that each species had different feeding intensities based on their unique life strategy. 

The third highlighted catches from throughout Russia including the Amur River region where chum salmon returns were 

influenced by river water flow and access to spawning grounds. The fourth presentation shared stock identification research 

where Russia uses a combination of genetic and phenotypic marks (otolith and scale pattern analysis) to investigate juvenile 

pink and chum salmon distribution in the Sea of Okhotsk, immature chum salmon in the western Bering Sea, and adult sockeye 

salmon in the northwest Pacific Ocean. The final presentation reported on climate impacts in the Bering Sea (BASIS) to identify 

key climatic and oceanographic factors effecting long-term changes in Bering Sea food production and salmon growth rates. 

United States: 

The United States provided four presentations. The first highlighted survey work including the Southeast Coastal Monitoring 

program, Gulf of Alaska Assessment, Southern Bering Sea Assessment, and Arctic Offshore Assessment. One goal of these 

surveys is to investigate how ecosystem considerations impact juvenile salmon survival. Another project that was shared used 

juvenile Canadian-origin Chinook salmon abundance in the eastern Bering Sea to forecast future adult returns. In addition, 

these surveys may help assess pink salmon distribution in the Arctic, a location where they may proliferate in the future as a 

result of changing climate conditions. The second presentation shared a monitoring program in Bristol Bay where genetic stock 

identification was used to predict the sockeye salmon run size and timing which was critical in 2015 where the run was about two 

weeks late. The third presentation identified a negative relationship between pink salmon abundance and Bristol Bay sockeye 

salmon growth. The final presentation reviewed new advances in genetic marker discovery to help with stock composition and 

trait analysis. Current experiments have identified over 12,000 genetic markers for Chinook salmon including a subset that have 

high potential for stock separation. 


Korea: 

Korea provided two presentations. The first presentation summarized Korea’s biological monitoring. Before 1983, the 

commercial harvest of adult chum salmon was approximately 10 metric tonnes per year, but peaked in the late 1990’s at 500 

metric tonnes with the increase in hatchery production. Most chum salmon return between age-2 and -5 although most are 3- and 

4-year old fish. The second presentation highlighted work with stock identification, specifically mitochondrial DNA sequencing 

of non-anadromous cherry salmon which identified 55 populations within Russia, the DMZ, and Japan. Pie diagrams were 

presented showing the distribution of mtDNA haplotypes in Korean populations including three unique haplotypes in the DMZ, 

an area with limited human access. 

Work plan itemization 

The committee recommended the following Work Plan for the CSRS in 2016/2017. 

2016/2017 Work Plan Item Terms of Reference 

A review progress on the 2016–2020 Science Plan; 

B report on last year’s salmon catches, escapement, and wild and artificial production of juvenile salmon; 3 

C review results of salmon stock assessment research and the condition of salmon stocks; 3 and 13 

D review and summarize results of this year’s salmon research in the Convention Area and adjacent seas; 4 

E exchange biological samples as necessary; 8 

F review and summarize salmon research plans for next year in the Convention Area and adjacent seas; 8 

G propose data exchanges; 8 

H review any documents submitted to the Commission prior to this year’s annual meeting; 12 and 13 

I the Parties will review any research proposals submitted in accordance with Article VII paragraph 6; 1 

J consider international collaboration with relevant organizations; 14 

K consider a report to the Commission. 11 

The Parties summarized their respective national research plans for 2016-2017 and presented proposed research cruise activities. 

Salmon cruise activities, including objectives, survey areas, and tentative dates are summarized in Appendix 3. 

Canada’s salmon research plan is described in Doc. 1379. Canada’s research activities organized according to the five major 

research topics (C-1 to C-5) identified in the 2011–2015 Science Plan: 

C-1: 

C-2: 

C-3: 

C-4: 

C-5: 

Migration and Survival Mechanisms of Juvenile Salmon in the Ocean Ecosystems; 

Climate Impacts on Pacific Salmon Production in the Bering Sea (BASIS) and Adjacent Waters; 

Winter Survival of Pacific Salmon in the North Pacific Ocean Ecosystem; 

Biological Monitoring of Key Salmon Populations; and 

Development and Applications of Stock Identification Methods and Models for Management of Pacific Salmon. 

Canadian cruise plans for salmon research for fiscal year 2016–2017 includes an offshore/west coast program with sampling 

along and off the west coast of British Columbia and an inshore program with sampling conducted in the Salish Sea (encompassing 

the Strait of Georgia and Puget Sound) (Doc. 1656). These surveys are both part of long-term research programs that were initiated 

in 1997–1998. In addition, Canada will conduct up to four research projects in inshore waters: (1) weekly purse seine survey in 

Johnstone Strait to monitor the northward migration of juvenile Fraser River sockeye salmon (May to July); (2) purse seine surveys in 

Cowichan Bay and near Big Qualicum River on the east coast of Vancouver Island as part of a study examining factors contributing to 

mortality of juvenile Chinook salmon in southern British Columbia (May to July); (3) monthly mid-water trawl surveys in Cowichan Bay 

and Howe Sound to describe the distribution and movement of juvenile Chinook salmon in inshore waters from April to September; 

and (4) tentative purse seine surveys in Clayoquot Sound to study distribution and timing of Chinook salmon through this area in 

spring and early summer (two unconfirmed dates during May and June) (Appendix 3). 

Japan’s national salmon research plan described in Doc. 1311 will be updated, considering the new NPAFC Science Plan approved 

at the current Annual Meeting. The temporary plan includes four research topics. 


J-1: 

J-2: 

J-3: 

J-4: 

Juvenile salmon studies in coastal waters; 

High-seas salmon studies in the Bering Sea and adjacent waters; 

Biological monitoring of major salmon populations; and 

Development and application of stock identification techniques and forecast model. 

Japanese cruise plans for salmon research in 2016 are described in Doc. 1629 Rev. 1. The Fisheries Research Agency (FRA) 

research vessel Hokko maru will conduct a summer monitoring survey for salmon and their habitat in the central Bering Sea. The 

Hokkaido University research vessel Oshoro maru will complete two salmon surveys in the North Pacific Ocean: one in mid-May and 

another between late June and early July (Appendix 3). 

In addition, Japanese research vessels are scheduled to conduct seven research cruises for pelagic fishes and squids in the North 

Pacific Ocean in 2016 (Doc. 1628). These surveys have a possibility of incidental catch of salmon during fishing operations with 

driftnets or trawl nets. In the case of driftnet operations, the length of driftnets will be less than 2.5 km at sea. 

The Korean 2016 research plan involves investigations of mortality and climate change effects on salmon (Doc. 1650 Rev. 1). To 

reveal mechanisms of mass mortality of chum salmon during their early life in rivers and coastal areas in conjunction with return rate 

fluctuations, research will be conducted in the following five areas: 

K-1: Identify prey and predator species for juvenile salmon in the rivers and coastal areas; 

K-2: Estimate stage-by-stage survival rate after releasing salmon to rivers and coastal areas; 

K-3: Monitor environmental factors in the river and coastal areas; 

K-4: Examine growth rate during the early life history using size, otolith, and DNA, and compare the growth rate between 

hatchery and wild juvenile salmon; and 

K-5: Investigate the optimal release period for juvenile salmon. 

Climate change effects on salmon distribution, migration route, and abundance will also be investigated. This research includes: 

○○ 

○○ 

continuous monitoring of environmental conditions in the Korean waters, and 

climate change effects on the biological characteristics of chum salmon returning to Korean waters. 

Other studies will include otolith thermal marking of Korean chum salmon to provide information about growth, survival during 

the early ocean life stage, and hatchery origins from releases in 2016 (2015 brood year). A new multiplex PCR set using microsatellite 

loci of chum salmon will be developed to investigate genetic variation and population structure of Korean populations for stock 

identification. The genetic structure of non-anadromous and anadromous cherry salmon populations will be investigated using 

mitochondrial DNA to obtain baseline data for development of a strategy for conservation and management. 

Korea has no plan for conducting ocean salmon surveys in 2016. 

Current Russian salmon research is being conducted as described in Doc. 1231. Russian salmon studies in 2016 relevant to the 

NPAFC Science Plan for 2011–2015 include five components: 

R-1: 

Migration and Survival Mechanisms of Juvenile Salmon in the Ocean Ecosystems 

In 2016 Russian research activities on juvenile salmon will take place in coastal waters and estuary zone of Bolshaya River 

(Western Kamchatka), and deep-water areas in the Okhotsk Sea. Oceanographic and plankton data as well as data on stomach 

content of salmon and other nekton species will be collected in major marine areas off the coasts of Kamchatka, and in the Okhotsk 

Sea during summer-fall season. Juvenile salmon seasonal distribution, migration, population characteristics, and survival will be 

estimated through different approaches. Stock abundance, habitat conditions, feeding behavior, and trophic interactions of Pacific 

salmon juveniles and other major nekton species will be studied. Thermal and “dry” otolith marking programs will be continued at 

hatcheries in the northern Okhotsk Sea region, Sakhalin, islands between Kamchatka and Hokkaido, Amur River and Kamchatka. 

Stock composition of marked juveniles in the aggregations of the Okhotsk Sea and return rates of adult fish of hatchery origin to 

Far East rivers will be analyzed. Identification of pink salmon stocks in the Okhotsk Sea based on genetic (mtDNA) methods will be 

investigated for forecasting of returns and possible catches of pink salmon in the following year. 

R-2: 

Climate Impacts on Pacific Salmon Production in the Bering Sea (BASIS) and Adjacent Waters 


The Bering Sea is one of the main foraging areas for Pacific salmon. Since 1991, Russia has been conducting comprehensive 

surveys in this area. Continuation and intensification of ecosystem research in the Bering Sea is needed to improve our 

understanding of how climate change will effect Pacific salmon production and ecosystems in the Bering Sea. In 2016, Russia 

does not have any plans to conduct surveys in this region. The information from previous surveys will be used to improve our 

understanding of how climate change will effect Pacific salmon production and ecosystems in the Bering Sea. 

R-3: 

Winter Survival of Pacific Salmon in the North Pacific Ocean Ecosystem 

In 2016, Russia does not have any plans to conduct winter surveys in this region. Data analysis to improve understanding of biotic 

and abiotic conditions and its impacts on salmon winter survival will be continued based on information from previous surveys. 

R-4: 

Biological Monitoring of Key Salmon Populations 

Russia will continue to monitor key salmon populations returning to Russian Far East river systems. The monitoring program 

includes the following items: 

○○ 

○○ 

○○ 

○○ 

○○ 

salmon catches and escapements; 

timing and number of adult returns; 

body size and age at maturity; 

otolith mark studies to assess status of wild and hatchery stocks; and 

epidemiological studies of pathogenic organisms. 

R-5: 

Development and Applications of Stock Identification Methods and Models for Management of Pacific Salmon 

Stock identification is an important area of Russian studies that is aimed at determining the oceanic distribution of stocks, their 

interactions, as well as forecasting salmon returns. Russian activities under this component of the NPAFC Science Plan in 2016 will 

include: 

○○ 

○○ 

○○ 

○○ 

identification of Asian stocks of pink salmon in the Okhotsk Sea based on genetic (mtDNA) methods; 

creation of a chum salmon scale baseline (2014–2015) for the next analysis of stock composition from aggregations of immature 

and mature fish in the Russian EEZ; 

otolith mark releases for assessment of wild and hatchery stocks in the Far East rivers and near-shore districts; and 

identification of Asian stocks of pink and chum salmon in the Okhotsk Sea based on otolith marking methods. 

Russian cruise plans include two Russian research vessels scheduled to conduct salmon surveys in summer and fall 2016 (Doc. 

1644). Investigators aboard the R/V Professor Kaganovsky will conduct a summer monitoring survey in the Pacific waters in the 

northwestern Pacific Ocean in June–July (Appendix 3). The primary objectives are to collect biological information on plankton and 

nekton communities and to describe the physical and biological oceanographic conditions in this region. The major purpose of 

these studies is the estimation of anadromous Pacific salmon abundance and biomass for short-term forecasting of their returns and 

possible catch. Scientists aboard the R/V TINRO will survey the southern Okhotsk Sea. The major purpose of these studies is the 

estimation of catadromous Pacific salmon abundance for forecasting returns and possible catch in the following years. 

The United States national salmon research plan is identified in Doc. 1574 and follows the five components identified under the 

2011–2015 Science Plan: 

U-1: 

Migration and survival mechanisms of juvenile salmon in the ocean ecosystems: 

Research activities will take place primarily in the coastal waters of the Gulf of Alaska from Southeast Alaska to western Kodiak 

Island and in the eastern Bering Sea, north of 60°N to the Bering Strait. 

U-2: 

Climate impacts on Pacific salmon production in the Arctic, Bering Sea (BASIS) and adjacent ecosystems: 

Research activities encompass those listed under U-1 with emphasis on monitoring biological and physical environments over a 

number of years to understand the impact of climate change and variability on salmon and groundfish (walleye pollock, Pacific cod, 

sablefish, rockfish) in the Arctic, Bering Sea and adjacent waters. 


U-3: 

Winter survival of Pacific salmon in the North Pacific Ocean ecosystem: 

There are no plans to conduct winter surveys. The United States endorses winter research and will continue to seek partnerships 

and funding to improve our understanding of Pacific salmon overwinter energetics and factors affecting winter survival. 

U-4: 

Biological monitoring of key salmon populations: 

Key populations monitored during the ocean surveys include Southeast Alaska pink, chum, and Chinook salmon, western Alaska 

Chinook and chum salmon, and stocks monitored at the NMFS Auke Creek Weir and Little Port Walter Marine Station. 

U-5: 

Development and applications of stock identification methods and models for management of Pacific salmon: 

Research activities are designed to find and apply markers capable of identifying populations of salmon migrating in the North 

Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea. 

United States cruise plans for 2016 were summarized in Doc. 1641 for Southeast Alaska (spring–summer), Doc. 1642 for Gulf of 

Alaska (summer) and Doc. 1643 for the northern Bering Sea (late summer). The survey vessels used will include R/V Sashin and F/V 

Northwest Explorer, F/V Cape Flattery, and R/V Oscar Dyson (Appendix 3). 

In addition, a multiyear cruise series will be conducted in May, August, and early October 2017 and 2019. These cruises will survey 

the northern Bering, Chukchi, and Beaufort seas. 

The CSRS considered requests for exchanges of samples and data. Each Party updated the list of sample and data requests 

(Appendix 4). 

NPAFC Science Plan 

The CSRS considered the 2016–2020 NPAFC Science Plan drafted by the Science Sub-Committee (Doc. 1665). The 2016–2020 

NPAFC Science Plan is largely aligned with the proposed IYS program (2016–2022), but there are differences due to the greater 

geographic extent and additional salmonid species within the IYS initiatives. The NPAFC Science Plan has five research themes: 

○○ 

○○ 

○○ 

○○ 

○○ 

Status of Pacific salmon and steelhead trout; 

Pacific salmon and steelhead trout in a changing North Pacific Ocean; 

New technologies; 

Management systems; and 

Integrated information systems. 

Relevant approaches to cooperative research under the Science Plan will include collection and synthesis of existing data and 

associated metadata to generate and test specific hypotheses, integration of ecological monitoring programs in the ocean using 

research vessels and/or remote sensing, conceptual and quantitative modeling, process-oriented field and laboratory studies, and 

retrospective analyses. Scientific results from cooperative studies will progressively reduce major gaps in knowledge with respect to 

the research themes, as well as make significant contributions to the IYS initiative in collaboration with other partners including PICES 

and NASCO. New scientific information will also contribute to effective enforcement activities by member nations to protect Pacific 

salmon from illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing in the Convention Area. 

Review of 2011–2015 NPAFC Science Plan (Doc. 1661) 

The overarching theme and five research components identified on 2011–2015 Science Plan were reviewed at 2015 NPAFC 

Symposium held in Kobe, Japan. The symposium proceedings is scheduled to be published in NPAFC Bulletin 6 in 2016. The SSC 

and Review Panels prepared a review of 2011–2015 Science Plan (Doc. 1661). In addition, a manuscript updated from Doc. 1661 was 

prepared for NPAFC Bulletin 6, and circulated among SSC and Review Panel members. The SSC recommends that the manuscript on 

review of 2011–2015 Science Plan be revised and submitted by June 20 for peer review. 

New NPAFC Science Plan (Doc. 1665) 


The SSC was charged with developing a new NPAFC Science Plan (2016–2020). The primary goal of the Science Plan is to 

understand variations in Pacific salmon productivity in a changing climate. Research objectives are to: (1) improve knowledge of 

their distribution, growth and survival in the ocean; (2) increase understanding of the causes of variations in Pacific salmon and 

steelhead trout production; and (3) anticipate future changes in the production of Pacific salmon and steelhead trout and the marine 

ecosystems producing them. Improved understanding of the mechanisms that regulate the distribution and abundance of Pacific 

salmon and steelhead trout will promote the conservation of anadromous populations in the North Pacific Ocean, allow for better 

forecasts of salmon production trends in the future, and enhance the sustainable fisheries management, food security, and economic 

security in member nations. 

Progress on research themes or issues of the 2016–2020 Science Plan will be reviewed annually during the NPAFC Annual 

Meeting. Symposia, workshops, and other science meetings will be scheduled as appropriate. CSRS decided that the SSC will 

prepare guidance on how to annually review the 2016–2020 Science Plan and will provide this information to the committee at the 

2017 Annual Meeting. 

Merging Working Group 

The Working Group on Salmon Tagging (WGST) suggested that they be merged with the Working Group on Salmon Marking 

(WGSM) because (1) the number of high-seas tag releases is decreasing, so the WGST only has to report an annual document on tag 

releases and several recoveries. However, archival tagging is still important to migration studies under the proposed new Science 

Plan; it consequently should still be discussed in a work group. (2) The WGST and WGSM goals as described in each ToR is the same: 

to increase knowledge on stock-specific ocean distribution and migration required for stock and fishery management. (3) Several 

members including the WGSM and WGST Chairpersons (D. Oxman and S. Urawa) are members of both groups. (4) Integration will 

allow the CSRS to create another new working group if needed to respond to new Science Plan and IYS initiatives. During discussion 

within the WGSM and WGST, members unanimously agreed it would be a good idea to merge the two working groups, and suggested 

the name of the new working group be the “Working Group on Salmon Marking (WGSM)”. It was also suggested that D. Oxman would 

continue to serve as Chairperson, and S. Urawa would serve as a temporary Co-Chairperson. 

Review of Parties’ Proposals on Joint Projects to be Financed by the Commission 

The CSRS requested the Committee on Finance and Administration to approve use of the NPAFC fund to support the following 

items: 

Funding request for the International Year of the Salmon two-year planning phase 2016/17 and 2017/18 (Appendix 5) [as Appendix 

5 to NPAFC Doc.1668]. 

This proposal requests $65,000 in 2016/17 and $64,500 in 2017/18 for the NPAFC share of the IYS brand/logo and website, 

North Pacific Steering Committee meetings, and 2018 Symposium expenses. These funds were required to support engagement of 

partners at the planning stage. The Coordinating Committee and the North Pacific Steering Committee will do the work of planning 

the activities and generating the resources required but will be challenged without these enabling funds. The dedication of these 

resources will signal the intention of the NPAFC to move forward with implementation. 

Ongoing reserve fund request for annual travel to other international organizations (Appendix 6) [as Appendix 5 to NPAFC 

Doc.1669]. 

This fund is intended to be used by the CSRS Chairperson, Chairperson of the relevant working group, or their designate, as 

determined by discussion between the CSRS Chairperson and the Executive Director. An invitation to a representative of CSRS/ 

NPAFC by other relevant organizations, such as PICES, NASCO, or NPFC to participate annually as an observer at their meetings is a 

critical component of cooperation of NPAFC with those other organizations. If the representative of CSRS does not have the funds to 

make the trip on their own, this fund will be used to provide travel support for participation at the meeting of the other international 

organizations. 


V. 8. Consideration of Administrative and Fiscal Matters 

The Commission received from Mr. J. Park, Chairperson of the Committee on Finance and Administration (F&A), the Report of 

the F&A (Doc. 1669), which contained information relative to the administration and finances at the Commission. After review, the 

Commission adopted the F&A report, including its recommendations. 

Among fiscal matters, the F&A considered the Auditor’s Report (Doc 1615) covering the period July 2014 to June 2015 and the 

separate report itemizing expenditures of several accounts (Doc. 1616), Budget Projection for fiscal year beginning July 1, 2016, 

and Budget Estimate for Fiscal Year Beginning July 1, 2017 (Docs.1559 Rev. 2, 1620 Rev. 1). In accordance with Article XI 6. of the 

Convention, the committee recommended the reappointment of the Loewen Kruse Chartered Accountants as auditors for the 

2015/16 fiscal year. 

The Budget Forecast for Fiscal Year Beginning 1 July 2018 (Doc. 1620, Rev. 1) was presented for the guidance of the Parties. In 

conformity with the Financial Rules, the Budget Forecast for the Fiscal Year beginning 1 July 2018 will be reviewed at the 2017 Annual 

Meeting in Busan, Korea. 

In order to help F&A understand the current financial situation before approving the Financial Projection for the 2016/17 FY, the 

Secretariat provided a preliminary report on the status of appropriation and expenditure of the General Funds, Working Capital Fund, 

and the Special Fund on Scientific Research of the 2015/16 fiscal year. The table shared expenditures for the current fiscal year based 

on the actual expenses up to 31 March 2016, and projections from 1 April to 30 June 2016. Parties acknowledged the document for 

the current 2015/16 fiscal year. 

The committee considered development of the NPAFC Secretariat Business Plan for 2017–2021. The Business Plan lists the 

main objectives and expected results of the Secretariat’s activities, including those related to enforcement and science (e.g. the 

International Year of the Salmon (IYS)). The Business Plan also outlines key management measures to support the Commission’s 

effective operations including financial analysis and summaries of the Budget appropriation, estimate and forecast for four fiscal 

years. Prior to discussion, the Executive Director reviewed implementation of the current NPAFC Secretariat Business Plan that will 

expire on June 30, 2017. 

The Canadian Party suggested that the new NPAFC Secretariat Business Plan for 2017–2021 should be ready for approval at the 

25th Annual Meeting, and that for future consideration, the committee should synchronize the terms of the NPAFC Science Plan with 

the NPAFC Secretariat Business Plan for more effective planning. The Secretariat will prepare a draft Business Plan in consultations 

with the F&A Chairperson and Points of Contact. The committee will review the new Business Plan, revise, if necessary, and 

recommend adoption by the Commission at the 2017 Annual Meeting. 

In order to facilitate the communications between the F&A members and the Secretariat between meetings, the committee 

appointed a F&A Point of Contact from each Party as follows: for Japan Y. Oda, for Canada K. Johnson, for Russia G. Dinkieva, for the 

United States E. Katz-Mink, and for Korea J. Park. The members will serve from the adjournment of the 2016 Annual Meeting. The 

names of members will be reviewed each year at the F&A meeting. The same persons were designated as Media Points of Contact 

from Parties for the next fiscal year. 

Management of the Commission’s Budget 

As reported in Doc. 1616 “Details of Items in the Auditors’ Report (NPAFC Doc. 1615)”, the 2014/2015 fiscal year ended with a 

surplus of $139,950 instead of a budgeted surplus of $26,000 (all figures are in Canadian funds). 

Decrease in expenditure from budget is mainly explained by a sharp change of Japanese currency rate in 2015. A relatively weak 

yen in late May-June helped us to save on the Annual Meeting expenses including meeting room rentals, contractual services, and 

miscellaneous costs (see page 8 of Doc. 1616). Savings in other headquarter contractual services gave about 20% of total. Besides, 

the currency gained in exchange. The Commission paid less than budgeted under the personnel service item since the cost of living 

adjustment was not announced in 2015. 

The balance of the Working Capital Fund as of June 30, 2015 is $641,976 (June 30, 2014 - $508,600). The balance of the Special 

Fund for Scientific Research is $39,934, as of June 30, 2015 (June 30, 2014 - $62,533). 


New figures for 2015/2016 fiscal year will be available in August 2016 after completion of auditing. 

Communication Plan Progress Report 

Executive Director presented the Communication Plan progress report at the Heads of Delegation meeting as a part of report 

on his performance management agreement for 2015/16 fiscal year. The goal of the Communications Plan (hereafter Plan) is to 

enhance the effectiveness of NPAFC communications and advance the NPAFC mission of conserving Pacific salmon and steelhead 

stocks in the North Pacific Ocean. Mr. Gary Smith, the U.S. Representative to the Commission and a professional communications 

consultant, authored the Plan pro bono. The NPAFC accepted the Plan at the 21st Annual Meeting in November 2013. The progress 

report consists of thirty sections, which describes item by item the status, what has been done; and proposed future actions, if 

recommendation implementation is not completed. 

In General, the Secretariat completed 11 of 30 Plan’s recommendations since Plan approval by the Commission. Another 10 

recommendations are in progress or ongoing (for activities and practices that will be continued in future), and another 9 were not 

implemented. Of the latter group, five recommendations need the Commission’s review since there was no consensus during their 

consideration at the 22nd and 23rd Annual Meetings. Implementation of other three recommendations from this group requires the 

NPAFC website reconstruction that will be planned in detail after the 2016 Annual Meeting. 

In full, the Communication Plan progress report was uploaded on the NPAFC website (Members’ Area) in April 2016. 

NPAFC Internship 

The 2015/16 NPAFC Intern Mr. Minho Kang from Korea completed the internship program on March 31, 2016. His internship 

program included a work with the Pacific salmon catches and releases database, support for the Commission projects including 

preparation for the 2nd IYS Scoping Meeting and Annual Meeting in Busan, and editing NPAFC publications including the NPAFC 

Handbook Third edition (Korean texts). He wrote a review of biological monitoring of a key Korean chum salmon population in the 

Namdae River for the NPAFC Newsletter No. 39 (p. 15-20). 

At the 2016 Annual meeting, Executive Director reported on the number of internship applications we received for the 2016 

NPAFC Internship Program. The 2016 NPAFC Internship Program was announced by the Secretariat through the NPAFC website, 

Newsletter No. 39, by emails and through partner organization networks. The Secretariat received 16 intern applications by the 

deadline of March 16, 2016. 

Following the successful completion of the 2nd International Year of the Salmon (IYS) Scoping Meeting in March 2016, the 

Secretariat proposed increasing the number of interns for 2016 to two persons. This proposal was approved by the Commission 

to give interns an opportunity to share work with projects related to the IYS initiative implementation including preparation of two 

scoping meeting reports for publication in the NPAFC Technical Report series, assistance in planning future international symposium, 

development of the IYS outreach and promotional material for printed pamphlet/brochure, NPAFC website, Wikipedia, and other 

media outlets. 

Ms. M. Young from Canada was selected as the best candidate for the 2016 NPAFC Internship Program, and Ms. C. Graham from 

United States as the second intern. However, Ms. Graham has later rejected the NPAFC internship due to personal reasons. The next 

invited candidate from the ranking list, Mr. William Stanbury from Canada accepted the opportunity to become another 2016 NPAFC 

Intern. 

25 th NPAFC Working Group Report 

The committee reviewed the Working Group report presented by the leader of the 25th Anniversary WG, Mr. G. Smith. All Parties 

agreed to combine the Annual Meeting reception with the 25th Anniversary reception to reduce the cost. The Canadian Party 

suggested seeking potential funders to support the events of the NPAFC 25th Anniversary celebration, specifically, funding for the 

development and implementation of a salmon monument. The Chairperson asked the Canadian Party for future follow-up on a list of 

potential donors. 


All Parties agreed to set a budget limit for the celebration. The committee set the maximum budget of the NPAFC 25th Anniversary 

celebration to C$55,000. 

Hiring for the Deputy Director 

The Executive Director announced two shortlisted candidates at the meeting and updated the timing of hiring of new Deputy 

Director whose term will start from January 2017 as follows: 

2016, May to August: Executive Director to interview the two shortlisted candidates face-to-face; 

2016, August: Executive Director informs NPAFC Points of Contact of his recommended candidate. 

All Parties agreed the above timing. 

Use of Delegation Rooms at the Annual Meeting (Other Business) 

All Parties acknowledged that this year’s arrangements of having two delegation rooms (one large and one small) with booking 

available on a first-come first-serve basis was satisfactory. The committee recommends that this practice continue for next year. 

V. 9. Executive Director's Term of Office and Related Issues 

The President informed the audience that all Parties concurred on the renewal of the four-year term of the current Executive 

Director, Dr. V. Radchenko, starting from July 1, 2017. 

V. 10. Election of the Commission’s Officers 

In accordance with Paragraph 14 of the Rules of Procedure, the Commission elected Dr. C. Lowe of Canada as President and Mr. J. 

Park of Korea as Vice-President of the NPAFC. 

In accordance with Paragraph 15 of the Rules of Procedure, the Commission elected Capt. P. Thorne of the United States as 

Chairperson of the Committee on Enforcement, Dr. I. Melnikov of Russia as Chairperson of the Committee on Scientific Research and 

Statistics, and Mr. J. Okamoto of Japan as Chairperson of the Committee on Finance and Administration. 

In August 2016, the Secretariat was informed that Capt. Stephen White has been selected by the USA Party to replace Capt. Phillip 

Thorne as the Chairperson of the Committee on Enforcement. 

V. 11. News Releases 

The Commission reviewed and adopted the news releases proposed by the Secretariat and the Press Committee (Appendix 7, i-vi) 

[from the Commission’s website or as Appendices 1-i to 1-vi to NPAFC Doc. 1671]. 


V. 12. Closing Remarks 

There were closing remarks of the Representatives of Japan, Canada, Russia, the United States, and Korea. Then, NPAFC 

President Mr. Junichiro Okamoto closed the session with an adjournment speech. 

Closing remarks by Mr. Masaki Hoshina, Head of the Japanese delegation: 

Dear President, Chairpersons of the Committees, Delegates, Observers, Secretariat, Korean Party who hosted this Annual 

Meeting, and Interpreters, 

At the closing of the NPAFC 24th Annual Meeting, I would like to make few remarks on behalf of the Japanese delegation. 

This was my first time to attend the NPAFC Annual Meeting, and I am convinced that by joining the active exchange of opinions 

from the Contracting Parties, our measures based on the common ideas to conserve anadromous fish in the North Pacific Ocean will 

move to a better direction. 

In all the meetings, we discussed complicated and important issues relating the development of NPAFC activities. We highly value 

the fact that we have reached certain agreements on various issues thanks to consistent leadership of each committee’s chairperson, 

support from the Secretariat, and flexible, as well as constructive approach from the delegations. 

For example in the ENFO Committee, we actively exchanged opinions regarding the new measures to stop IUU fishing. I believe 

this discussion will continue after this meeting. 

In the CSRS Committee, we discussed concrete plans for IYS, which is a very ambitious initiative, and developed a new Science 

Plan based on those ideas. 

In the F&A Committee, we made a balanced distribution of the budget for initiatives that are very important yet require large 

expenses, such as the 25th Anniversary and the IYS. 

Our country recognizes the significance of the tasks for the Convention’s Contracting Parties once again, and we pledge to 

continue making our strenuous effort with you. We believe that our earnest actions will be understood and supported by many 

countries of the world in the future. 

As the Annual Meeting in 2017 will be held in Victoria, Canada, we will make our effort to strengthen our cooperation and welcome 

the new era. 

Finally, we thank President Okamoto and committee chairpersons for their strong leadership and facilitating effective operations 

of the meetings. We also thank Korean Government who has given us an opportunity to spend time in Busan. We sincerely thank the 

delegates, observers, local support staff, and interpreters. We would also like to congratulate Dr. Lowe, who has been appointed as 

the new President, and new officers. We sincerely hope for their success. 

Closing remarks of Dr. Carmel Lowe, Head of the Canadian delegation: 

Mr. President, Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen, 

Canada would like to begin by once again extending sincere gratitude to our Korean colleagues for their gracious hospitality in 

hosting the NPAFC’s 24th Annual Meeting. We would also like to thank the outgoing President Mr. Okamoto for his leadership, as 

well as the chairpersons of the respective committees and the interpreters for doing such a wonderful job and facilitating our work so 

seamlessly. 

With respect to the work of the Commission, Canada is very pleased with the wonderful collaborative efforts that continue to be 

strengthened within this organization, including between our enforcement and scientific committees. The progress that the CSRS 

presented in advancing the International Year of the Salmon is significant and impressive. The next steps that they outlined and 


which the Commission supported are a testament to the efforts of all parties to collaborate internally and externally as we pursue new 

frontiers for the sustainability of species we, and the nations we represent, care deeply about. It is this foundation of collaboration 

that makes this Commission so effective and a pleasure to be a part of. I believe that this initiative will be a flagship endeavor for the 

Commission as it begins a new chapter that builds on its 25 years of success. 

It is a testament to our Secretariat and our members that we can find ways to improve the functioning of the NPAFC without 

sacrificing our financial stability. To ensure this endures, the Commission should continue to seek new ways to coordinate with 

initiatives taking place elsewhere that help advance our own science and enforcement objectives and with other international 

organizations whose interests align with ours. A perfect example is the collaboration that has been initiated with NASCO for the IYS. 

My colleagues and I also wish to thank everyone in the Secretariat for their tireless efforts in preparing for this event and ensuring 

that all of our meetings ran so smoothly. In particular, I’d like to take a moment to recognize the tremendous contribution that our 

Deputy Director, Dr. Nancy Davis, has made to this Commission and the CSRS in particular. Canada expresses our sincerest gratitude 

for your outstanding service and look forward to celebrating your many contributions with you in Vancouver before you return to your 

home country. 

We understand that this is also the last NPAFC Annual Meeting for several other long-standing members, including Dr. Loh-Lee 

Low from the United States, three-time chairperson of CSRS. Additionally, Mark Saunders and Gary Miller are marking their last 

meeting as members of the Canadian delegation. To these and all other representatives who may be here for the last time, we thank 

you for your dedication and contributions to the Commission’s work. 

Canada is very much looking forward to welcoming you all to Victoria, British Columbia, as we host the Commission’s 25th 

Anniversary meeting next May. We are excited to have this honour in a year when we will also celebrate Canada’s 150th Birthday. It’s 

going to be a party, so practice your singing and bring your dancing shoes! 

Closing remarks by Dr. Mikhail Glubokovsky, Head of the Russian delegation: 

Dear Mr. President, Respectful Representatives, and Colleagues: 

It has become a good tradition to conduct our meetings in a well-organized manner. Some discussions took place at our meeting, 

and it brought notable progress in the topics discussed. 

First, I would like to thank the Korean Party for the hospitality and for the good weather as well. Busan has charmed everyone. It is 

really a beautiful city. 

I hereby would like to thank all outgoing and incoming officers of the Commission. 

I would like to wish well-being to our salmon, which, unfortunately, began to show a stock decline in Asia. However, if we will apply 

enough efforts, this decline will not be disastrous. 

I wish you all good health and looking forward to the meeting in Victoria next year. . 

Closing remarks by Mr. Douglas Mecum, Head of the United States delegation: 

Mr. President, Fellow Representatives and Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen. 

We have reached the end of another NPAFC Annual Meeting. We are grateful to our Korean hosts for the wonderful hospitality we 

have experienced in the vibrant city of Busan and we are pleased with the results of our collaborative efforts to advance the important 

mission of our Commission. 

The United States is happy to have participated in another very productive CSRS meeting where our scientists adopted a new 

science plan and a framework for integrated, collaborative science within the “International Year of the Salmon”. From warming 

oceans to shrinking Arctic sea ice to coastal droughts, our world is changing and we need to respond. No organization is better 


suited to address challenges of climate change on marine ecosystems than NPAFC. We have proven that our strong collaborative 

research efforts in the North Pacific Ocean can greatly improve our understanding of climate impacts on marine ecosystems. 

Healthy ecosystems produce high quality salmon that we humans rely on. Therefore, we have begun an important journey toward 

strengthening our climate science capacity that will assist us in identifying mechanisms of climate impacts on salmon marine ecology 

and to improve our understanding of possible shifts in salmon species distributions under future climate scenarios. 

The U.S. delegation is also pleased with the results of the Committee on Enforcement this year where, first and foremost, patrol 

efforts for 2015 and plans for 2016 were reviewed. The Parties affirmed that, collectively, they continue to deliver an aggressive, wellcoordinated 

and effective patrol effort to combat IUU fishing with large scale drift nets in the Convention Area. Additionally, progress 

was made to determine the best way to engage productively with NPFC to maximize the alignment of the enforcement component of 

both organizations. Finally, the joint CSRS/ENFO meeting highlighted the best environmental information available to aid in targeting 

HSDN activity and explored better ways for enforcement personnel to take samples from seized salmon to aid in genetic testing. 

The United States congratulates the Finance & Administration Committee on their excellent work. The Secretariat continues 

to manage the budget with great diligence and to conduct our meetings with great efficiency. Although we are adding some 

significant one-time expenses in the coming fiscal year, the overall condition of the budget remains healthy and we are still adding 

to our financial reserves. It was gratifying to see that this year’s solicitation for interns yielded 16 applicants and we are pleased 

with the F&A committee’s decision to authorize two intern positions for the coming year especially since preparation for IYS and the 

25th Anniversary will require more work than normal. Finally, we strongly support the decision to prepare a special recognition of 

the achievements of NPAFC over the last quarter century. The United States will participate in the preparation for next year’s event 

and we look forward to working with the other parties in sharing our story of success with those who care about the conservation of 

salmon. 

It is with a heavy heart I note that this meeting will be the last NPAFC meeting that Dr. Nancy Davis and Dr. Loh-Lee Low attend 

in their current official capacities. Both Nancy and Loh have contributed greatly to the success of this organization. Both of 

them always have a positive approach and are willing to do whatever it takes to effectively conduct the important business of this 

Commission. They will be greatly missed. 

On a lighter note, I want to congratulate Ms. Wakako Morris on receiving the NPAFC Award for meritorious achievement. 

Wakako's many achievements and her significant contributions to NPAFC really can't be measured. She has literally been the heart 

and soul of this Commission and I am so grateful that she could be recognized by all of us who have benefitted from her advice and 

support and who have enjoyed her friendship and her beautiful smile over these many years. 

In closing, we thank President Okamoto for his skillful leadership this week, as well as our committee chairpersons, Mr. Jeongseok 

Park, Dr. Loh-Lee Low, and Mr. Oleg Volkov and our many Subcommittee and Working Group chairpersons for their hard work 

and guidance. And we thank all of the participants for making this meeting a success. Once again, Executive Director Vladimir 

Radchenko, Deputy Director Nancy Davis, Jennifer Chang, Yuko Uchida, and Harold Belongilot have orchestrated a flawless NPAFC 

Annual Meeting. We owe them a huge debt of gratitude for making a meeting with many difficult issues run very smoothly. And we 

thank our interpreters for their important contribution to our increased understanding of the nature of Pacific salmon. 

Once again, we extend our sincere gratitude to Korea for hosting this 24th Annual Meeting in Busan. On behalf of the United 

States delegation, I wish you all a safe journey home and we look forward to seeing you at the 25th Anniversary Meeting of the NPAFC 

in beautiful Victoria, British Columbia. 

Thank You. 

Closing remarks by Mr. Jeongseok Park, Head of the Korean delegation: 

Good morning, the President of the NPAFC, Mr. Junichiro Okamoto, Distinguished Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen, and Invited 

Observers. 

First of all, on behalf of the Korean delegation, I would like to thank the President, Mr. Junichiro Okamoto, Executive Director, 

Dr. Vladimir Radchenko, the Secretariat, the Heads of Delegation, committee chairpersons, the members of the delegations, the 

observers, the interpreters and all the participants of the 24th Annual Meeting of NPAFC. With their all leadership, cooperation, 


guidance, and assistance, I am sure that we have come to the end of this meeting with productive, fruitful, and successful results. 

Second of all, I congratulate Dr. Loh-Lee Low and scientists in CSRS in finalizing the 2016–2020 NPAFC Science Plan which 

expects to promote new cooperative international research that provides better scientific information on the ecological mechanism 

regulating the distribution and abundance of anadromous populations and climate impacts in North Pacific marine ecosystems. I 

would also like to extend my special thanks to Mr. Mark Saunders who has led the Working Group for the International Year of the 

Salmon and many scientists from each Party who have continuously contributed and dedicated to our big project, the IYS. We 

all expect they will meet our expectation, and IYS as a new initiative will bring increased understanding of salmon and people in a 

changing world, and thus deliver a successful International Year of the Salmon which can lead to increased scientific understanding 

while raising both public and political awareness of the factors driving salmon abundance. 

Lastly, I would like to highlight while continuing and enhancing our collaborative enforcement activities in our Convention Area 

among the five Parties, we will continue to make efforts to create more concrete mutual cooperation with the North Pacific Fisheries 

Commission (NPFC) in terms of collaboration on the Monitoring, Control, and Surveillance (MCS) strategy and scientific aspects 

including bycatch issue as well. Such cooperation as the starting point would be to share our NPAFC Vessel of Interest List with NPFC 

and other relevant RFMOs to take stricter treatment of IUU vessels as a compliance function. Another point is to develop a common 

data collection and bycatch protocol by both commissions to minimize salmon-bycatch, and to collect and share such data since 

there are a variety of fisheries in the North Pacific Ocean. 

Before closing, it may be premature to say but we extend our appreciation to Dr. Nancy Davis, Deputy Director, for her tireless 

dedication and significant contribution to the Secretariat and our Commission for almost six years while she remains in the Secretariat 

until the end of this year. We look forward to her continued engagement in the activities of our Commission in the future. And I deeply 

congratulate Mrs. Wakako Morris on becoming the recipient of 2016 NPAFC Award. Regardless of her retirement, I have observed 

new competent and professional staff, Ms. Jennifer Chang, Mr. Harold Belongilot, and Ms. Yuko Uchida, during this meeting. 

Therefore, I do believe the future of the Secretariat is very optimistic and bright under the continued leadership of Dr. Vladimir 

Radchenko. 

I hope that dynamic and attractive Busan gave an enjoyable time to all the participants during your stay. I wish you a safe journey 

home with good memories and hope to see all of you again in Canada at the NPAFC 25th Anniversary in 2017. 


Closing remarks by Mr. Junichiro Okamoto, the NPAFC President 

Heads of Delegations, Advisors, Delegates, Observers, Distinguished Guests, 

I wish to make a few remarks at the end of the 24th Annual Meeting of NPAFC. We have been engaged in extensive exchange of 

useful information at this year’s annual conference and discussed numerous important matters related to future activities of NPAFC 

and produced significant outcomes through collaboration. 

Although some of the matters require continued discussion to achieve better results, based on our tradition of cooperation of 

NPAFC, through mutual understanding, we successfully achieved consensus and produced significant results for joint activities 

among Parties and for the future of NPAFC. For this, I wish to extend my sincere appreciation for your support and contribution. 

I am also grateful for the NPFC representative to have provided valuable information related to our activities. 

During this week, CSRS, ENFO, and F&A participated in sincere discussion of many issues and challenges, under outstanding 

leadership of Dr. Low, Mr. Volkov, and Mr. Park and came up with fruitful results. For this, I wish to express my heartfelt gratitude to all 

the participants of each committee. 

Let me express my cordial appreciation to the Secretariat led by the Executive Director for their excellent preparation and 

operation of the Annual Meeting, which supported me greatly in completing the 2-year term as President of the Commission. 

It will be remiss if I don’t mention my appreciation to the interpreters for their professional work that facilitated our active 


participation in discussion on many complex matters and questions at each committee meeting of NPAFC. 

Last but not the least, I am most grateful for the warm hospitality extended to us during our stay in Busan by the Government of 

Korea and the City of Busan. I am certain this sense of appreciation is shared by all the participants of the meeting. 

In the meantime, this is the last year for Dr. Nancy Davis as Deputy Director who has been always supportive of our work. We 

all acknowledge her contribution as Deputy Director to NPAFC. Although she still stays in her office for some time, for some of the 

participants, this is the last opportunity to directly hear from her. Therefore, I’d like to congratulate her achievement on behalf of the 

Commission. Dr. Davis, I would like to invite you to take the floor on this occasion. 

My term as President is about to expire at the end of this Annual Meeting. We will celebrate the 25th Anniversary of NPAFC in 

Victoria, Canada, and have to continue to work on various important initiatives including IYS under the presidency of Dr. Carmel Lowe 

of Canada. 

I am looking forward to seeing you all in Canada. I wish you a safe journey home. 

Thank you. 

Nancy Davis 

Dr. N. Davis, Deputy Director, gave her remarks of appreciation to the Commission on occasion of announcing the end of her term 

on December 31, 2016. She received a round of applause from the members for her dedication and hard work to the Commission. 



VI. The Commission’s activities 

after the 24 th Annual Meeting 


VI. The Commission’s activities after the 24 th Annual Meeting 

VI. 1. Consideration of Enforcement 

According to the committee’s recommendation, ten e-mail conferences were conducted from mid-June to November 2016 in 

comparison with four biweekly e-mail conferences completed in 2015. At the IIS Forum, the Secretariat created secure web pages to 

upload the Parties’ reports during the 2016 biweekly email conferences. Four NPAFC member countries delivered 25 email reports; 23 

of them were prepared in accordance with the proposed template, and seven of them contained sighting reports. Two transshipment 

vessels were added to the Vessel of Interest list based on presented information. 

A suspicious fishing vessel under the People’s Republic of China flag was sighted by Fisheries Agency of Japan patrol vessel to be 

equipped with driftnet gear (net tube, rollers) and carried radio buoys used for driftnets within the Convention Area. A refrigerated 

cargo ship was sighted by the U.S. Coast Guard patrol aircraft unflagged and with vessel name painted out within the NPAFC 

Convention Area in the Bering Sea. 

The Russian Party commented a draft letter to the WCPFC of November 14, 2016 with the NPAFC Vessel of Interest list information 

by submission on removal of the F/V Vector from the NPAFC Vessel of Interest List. According to the Terms of Reference for IIS 

Vessels of Interest (NPAFC Doc. 1003, Appendix 3), “if there is no evidence of IUU fishing and the member country of registry has 

requested that the vessel be removed from the list, the vessel will be removed”. F/V Vector (then Faro) was included in the NPAFC 

Vessel of Interest List by the United States on April 28, 2011. F/V Faro was sighted under the convenience flag of Cambodia within 

the Convention Area, equipped with driftnet gear (net tube), and it was reasonably suspected of having engaged in fishing that 

could adversely affect the conservation of anadromous stocks. Since 2011, the vessel has twice changed name, flag, and ownership 

companies. No evidence was received on this vessel involvement into IUU-fishing activities in the NPAFC Convention Area. 

According to the Russian Maritime Register of Shipping website, vessel was sold to new owner (LLC "Moneron", Nevel’sk, Russia) in 


The NOAA Fisheries Communications continued informing the NPAFC Secretariat on the U.S. President’s initiative to combat IUU 

fishing and seafood fraud implementation including development of the U.S. seafood traceability program, a commerce trusted trader 

program, a key element to ensure seafood traceability, the seafood import monitoring program, the List of Foreign Fisheries (LFF), 

and NOAA 2017 Biennial Report to Congress identifying countries with vessels reported to be engaged in IUU fishing. With a shifting 

focus from Pacific salmon to other marine resources, no information was requested and submitted by the Secretariat to NOAA this 

year. 

There was no progress on development of recommendations for stricter treatment of non-contracting party vessels conducting 

IUU activities in the Convention Area in intersessional time after the 2016 Annual Meeting. The Secretariat requested ENFO 

Chairperson and Points of Contact to pay attention to this issue on August 17 and November 21, 2016. At the 2016 Annual Meeting 

in Busan, ENFO suggested that it might be most practical to explore these agenda items in a workshop/ symposium at a later date. 

Another ENFO proposal was that a virtual email meeting be held prior to the 2017 Annual Meeting to develop discussion items, 

including the necessity of holding workshop/symposium, at an Annual Meeting. 

VI. 2. Consideration of Scientific Research and Statistics 

After the 2016 NPAFC Annual Meeting in May 2016, where the planning phase of the IYS was endorsed, the NASCO Council 

approved the IYS proposal and established the IYS Special Fund in June 2016. Then, IYS implementation began in earnest in 

cooperation with our Atlantic partners. In September 2016, NASCO and NPAFC formed the IYS Coordinating Committee. It consists 

of six members: Peter Hutchinson (NASCO Secretariat), Carmel Lowe (NPAFC), Doug Mecum (NPAFC), Dan Morris (NASCO, Co- 

Chair), Mark Saunders (NPAFC, Co-Chair), and Vladimir Radchenko (NPAFC Executive Director). 

The IYS Coordinator contract was endorsed by the Commission and approved by the NPAFC President on December 22, 2016. 

Since January 2017, Mark Saunders will assume a position as full-time IYS Coordinator contracted by the NPAFC Secretariat through 

DFO Partnership Fund. 

One of the first priorities was to finalize the IYS governance model. While the Atlantic and Pacific basins are autonomous the IYS 


will support salmosphere-wide, regional, and local initiatives, and be adaptable in scale depending on funding and support received. 

As indicated in draft document preface, the IYS governance should be inclusive, flexible and supportive since there will be different 

issues affecting salmon around the salmosphere (i.e. North Pacific Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and Arctic), different research 

priorities and focus of activities by region. 

After prolonged discussions, NASCO and NPAFC agreed to a distributed governance system. It consists of Coordinating 

Committee that will coordinate the planning, implementation and administration of the IYS and review its progress at the salmosphere 

level. The Coordinating Committee will discuss and decide on criteria for the IYS endorsements, salmosphere research priorities, and 

outreach programme. However, its consideration will be based on recommendations from Regional Steering Committees. 

Two regional steering committees will be responsible for IYS activities in the Atlantic and Pacific basins. The 2018 Symposium 

Steering Committee will coordinate preparations for the opening event in the fall of 2018 event. The governance structure will 

be reviewed for its adequacy and effectiveness from time to time, depending on the IYS initiative progress. The NASCO/NPAFC 

Guidelines on Preparation for and Conduct of Meetings were approved on October 26, 2016. The IYS endorsement document, tools 

for communication, website & brand issues, research coordination/communication, and 2018 symposium were discussed at three 

Coordinating Committee conference calls in September–December 2016. Documents dedicated to these matters have been drafted 

and are under review by the regional steering committees and the Coordinating Committee. 

Regarding the IYS timeline, there was a mutual agreement that the IYS focal year will be 2019, with projects and activities starting 

in 2018 and continuing into 2020 and beyond. In late 2018, a large international event/symposium will launch the IYS. At this 

Symposium, the key partners would gather to consider challenges and research opportunities and potentially declare agreement on 

adopting a coordinated international arrangement that would share information and results. Format, venue and exact dates of this 

important event are still under consideration by the Symposium Steering Committee. 

The North Atlantic and North Pacific Steering Committees continue to implement the planning phase for the IYS. The North 

Atlantic Steering Committee (NASC) met in London, U.K. on November 1–3, 2016. The North Pacific Steering Committee (NPSC) will 

meet in Richmond, B.C., Canada in 2017. 

IYS operating funds were allocated in 2016/17 by NASCO, NPAFC, Canada, and the United States of America for regional 

implementation within the Pacific and within the Atlantic including support for administration and management of the initiative, 

coordination of steering committees’ meetings, website and logo design, symposium expenses, research and outreach planning, and 

development of a funding strategy. On March 31, 2017, at the end of the Canadian fiscal year, the Secretariat will report the DFO on a 

progress toward the IYS outcomes with a statement of accounts. 

The Secretariat established good working relationships with the University of British Columbia (UBC), which is very eager to 

participate in the IYS implementation. Dr. George Iwama was appointed by UBC as a liaison between University and the NPAFC in the 

IYS matters. 

It was proposed in interim discussions of the Working Group on Salmon Marking (WGSM) that the public release of the tagging 

database should coincide with the implementation of interactive mapping, and that ultimately such mapping capabilities can be 

applied to otolith recoveries as well. WGSM is planning to write a proposal on the interactive mapping system development and 

submit it to the CSRS consideration at the 25th Annual Meeting in Victoria on May 15–19, 2017. Upon the Secretariat’s request, CSRS 

recommended postponing the decision 16S/4 implementation until an interactive visual mapping system would be developed. The 

Commission will consider this CSRS recommendation at the 2017 Annual meeting. 

On July 20, 2016, the NPAFC statistical data files and statistics metadata report were updated with the addition of information on 

Pacific salmon catches and hatchery releases in 2015. Data sets were verified by comparison with available published information 

and clarifications by the CSRS Points of Contact. 


VI. 3. Consideration of Administrative and Fiscal Matters 

In 18 July – 08 August 2016, the Loewen Kruse Chartered Accountants completed external audit of the NPAFC financial position, 

financial performance, and cash flows. As reported in the Doc. 1675 “Details of Items in the Auditors’ Report (NPAFC Doc. 1674) for 

the Period of July 1, 2015 to June 30, 2016”, the 2015/2016 fiscal year ended with a surplus of $97,415 instead of a budgeted surplus 

of $13,700. The balance of the Working Capital Fund as of June 30, 2016, is $628,706 (June 30, 2015—$641,976). The balance of the 

Special Fund for Scientific Research as of June 30, 2015, is $39,526 (June 30, 2015—$39,934), see Table 10. 

As it is stated in the Auditors’ Report, the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of North 

Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission as of 30 June 2016, and its financial performance and its cash flows for the year ended in 

accordance with the NPAFC Financial Rules. These documents will be reported to the Commission at the 2017 Annual Meeting. 

According to the Financial Rule #7, a revised Budget document for the fiscal years 2016/17, 2017/18 and 2018/19 (Doc. 1620 

Rev. 2) was forwarded to the NPAFC Points of Contact and F&A Points of Contact after the auditing on September 15, 2016 (Memo 

F16-12). Revision 2 of the document incorporated all the Commissions decisions made at the 2016 Annual Meeting including second 

Intern approval, adopted Moving Fund expenses, etc. The Commission approved the Doc. 1620 Rev. 2 on November 8, 2016 on the 

non-objection basis. 

In July & August 2016, the Secretariat conducted two conference calls with the Anniversary WG Chairman. The Secretariat 

prepared a tentative program of the Anniversary celebration and started contacting potential invited speakers. Posters for the 

Anniversary exhibition were drafted at the end of 2016. 

Upon an invitation received from the British Columbia Ministry of Agriculture, the Executive Director presented a public lecture 

“The NPAFC Story: 25 years Protecting and Studying Pacific Salmon” at the 2016 B.C. Seafood Expo that was held in Courtenay, B.C. 

on June 9-10, 2016. Details of presentation and event are available from the NPAFC Newsletter No. 40, p. 22–28. One month later, 

B.C. Seafood Expo organizers requested participants to submit a feedback in a form of online survey that was done the same day. 

In the second half of 2016, the Secretariat was also involved in a regular information exchange through several communication 

networks: 

○○ 

INTERPOL network (Weekly INTERPOL Environmental Security news); 

○○ 

The Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM) Secretariat network (Scientific Issue 2015, news releases, CANARI Policy 

Briefs, consulting and other job opportunities, newsletters, announcements, briefing meetings, webinars and other events, PR, 

general discussions); and 

○○ 

NEREUS Program of the Nippon Foundation & UBC reports and electronic newsletter. 

In general, effectiveness of NPAFC communications to the community and the world was maintained on a relevant level. 




VII. People 



Presidents 

Vyacheslav Zilanov 

1993–1995 

Koji Imamura 

1995–1997 

2003–2005 

David Bevan 

1997–1999 

Fran Ulmer 

1999–2001 

Anatoly Makoedov 

2001–2003 

Guy Beaupré 

2005–2007 

Dohyung Koo 

2007–2008 

Suam Kim 

2008–2009 

James Balsiger 

2009–2011 


2011–2014 

Junichiro Okamoto 

2014–2016 

Carmel Lowe 

2016–Present 



Canada 

Victor Rabinovitch 

1993–1994 

Darlene Weir 

1993–1994 

Garnet Jones 

1993–1999 

Gary Williamson 

1994–1997 

David Bevan 

1996–2002 

Gerry Kristianson 

1997–2012 

Russ Jones 

1999–2008 

Guy Beaupré 

2002–2012 

George Hungerford 

2012–Present 

Terry Tebb 


Robin Brown 

2013–2015 

Carmel Lowe 



(Participated at the Annual Meeting) 

Japan 

Masahiro Ishikawa 

1993–1994 

Koji Imamura 

1993–2009 

Seiichi Yoshida 

1994–1995 

Satoshi Watanabe 

1995–1997 

Shuji Ishida 

1997–1999 

Ryozo Kaminokado † 

1999–2000 

Shiro Yuge 

2000–2002 

Tomofumi Kume 

2004–2005 

Yoshimi Suenaga 

2005–2006 

Daishiro Nagahata 

2006–2009 

Yukihiko Sakamoto 

2009–2010 



Shingo Kurohagi 

2011–2012 

Shigeto Hase 


Masaki Hoshina 




Korea 

Joon Suk Kang 

2003–2004 

Bong Se Oh 

2003–2004 

Dong Yeob Yang 

2003–2004 

Chong Rok Park 

2004–2005 

Sukyung Kang 

2004–2009 

Yang Soo Kim 

2004–2006 

Yong Kuk Lee 

2005–2006 

Chiguk Ahn 

2006–2007 

Dohyung Koo 

2007–2008 

Ki Baik Seong 

2007–2012 

Suam Kim 

2008–2009 

Jeongseok Park 


Jang-Woo Seo 

2010–2012 

Ju Kyoung Kim 


Bundo Yoon 

2012–2013 

Do Hyun Lee 




Russia 

Vyacheslav Zilanov 

1993–1997 

Vladimir Fedorenko 

1993–1999 

Vladimir Pautov † 

1993–2001 

Vladimir Izmailov 

1996–2001 

Sergey Dyagilev 

2001–2006 

Anatoly Makoedov 

2001–2006 

Sergey Sinyakov 

2001–2006 

Mikhail Glubokovskiy 

2006–2009 


Sergey Maksimov 

2006–2010 






USA 

Alec Brindle 

1993–1994 

Richard Lauber 

1993–1994 

Steven Pennoyer 

1993–2000 

Fran Ulmer 

1994–2004 

Guy McMinds 

1996–2004 


2000– Present 

Alan Austerman 

2004–2007 

Frank L. “Larry” Cassidy, Jr. 

2004–2006 

Gary Smith 


Roland Maw 

2007–2011 

Earl Krygier 



Committee Chairpersons 

CSRS Chairpersons 

Leo Margolis † 

1993–1995 

Loh-Lee Low 

1995–1997 

2003–2005 


Oleg Gritsenko † 

1997–1999 

Yukimasa Ishida 

1999–2001 

2007– 2009 

Richard Beamish 

2001–2003 

Vladmir Karpenko 

2005–2007 

Jin Yeong Kim 

2009–2011 

Mark Saunders 

2011–2014 

Igor Melnikov 




ENFO Chairpersons 

Dennis Brock 

1993*, 1997–1999 


1994–1996 

Satoshi Watanabe 

1996–1997 

Shuji Ishida 

1997 

Vincent O’Shea 

1999–2001 

Igor Rypalov 

2001–2003 

Takashi Kato 

2003–2004 

Akihiro Mizukawa 

2004–2005 

Koji Miyaura 

2005 

Mike Cerne 

2005–2007 

Robert Martinolich 

2007–2009 

Paul Steele 

2009 

Jun Imamura 

2009–2011 


2011–2014 

Alexey Monakhov 

2014–2015 

Oleg Volkov 


* – as a Chairman of the Sub-Committee on Enforcement within Committee on Enforcement, Finance and Administration (CEFA) 


Philip Thorne 


Steven White 




F & A Chairpersons 

Richard Lauber 

1993–1996 


1996–1997 

Shuji Ishida 

1997–1999 

Ryozo Kaminokado† 

1999 

Aaron Sarna 

1999–2000 

Gerry Kristianson 

2001, 2009–2011 


2001–2003 

Vladimir Shevlyakov 

2003–2005 

Koji Miyaura 

2005–2006 

Kazuaki Tanaka 

2006–2007 

Hiromi Isa 

2007 

Sergey Maksimov 

2007–2009 

Gary Smith 

2011–2014 






Secretariat 

Executive Directors 

Shigeto Hase 

1993–1994 

(Interim Executive Director) 

Irina Shestakova 

1994–1999 

Vladimir Fedorenko 

1999–2013 

Vladimir Radchenko 


Deputy Directors 

Wakako Morris 

1993–1994 

(Interim Deputy Director) 

Hisashi Endo 

1994–1997 

Hiroko Omori 

1997–2000 

Yoshikiyo Kondo 

2000–2003 

Toshinori Uoya 

2003–2006 

Shigehiko Urawa 

2006–2010 

Nancy Davis 

2010–2017 




Secretariat 

Administrative Officers 

Web/Publication Manager 

Wakako Morris 


Jennifer Chang 


Harold Belongilot 


Administrative Assistants 

IT/Administrative Assistant 


2015 

Yuko Uchida 


Claudia Chan 

2013–2015 

Secretaries 

Heather Nevin 

1993–1995 

Marijke Nap † 

1995–1997 

Denise McGrann-Pavlovic 

1997–2010 

Claudia Chan 

2010–2013 

Elena Dryagina 

2013 

Betty Kao 

2013–2014 

Joyce Tang 

2014–2015 


2015 


Interns 

Yuka Ogata 

2011 Jan.–Jul. 

Yulia Simakova 

2014- 2015 

Minho Kang 

2015- 2016 

William Stanbury 

2016- Present 

Madeline Young 

2016- Present 

Trainee 

Youngho Park 

2012 - 2013 



VIII. Meeting and Events 


Meeting and Events—25 Years of History 

1994 

1994 

April I. Shestakova takes 

office as Executive Director, 

replacing S. Hase, Interim 

Executive Director. 

July H. Endo takes office as 

Deputy Director. 

October 10-15 2 nd Annual 

Meeting of the Commission 

in Vladivostok Russia. 

1995 

March 6-10 Research 

Planning and Coordinating 

Meeting, Seattle, 

Washington, U.S.A. 

November 5-10 3 rd Annual 


in Seattle, Washington, 

U.S.A. 

1996 

October 21-25 4 th Annual 


in Tokyo, Japan 

October 28-29 International 

Symposium on Assessment 

and Status of Pacific Rim 

Salmon Stocks in Sapporo, 

Japan 

1997 

January L. Margolis passes 

away. (Canadian scientist 

and Fisrt CSRS Chairman) 

February 11 F&A Working 

Group Meeting in 




Meeting (RPCM) in 




in Victoria, Canada 

1999 

March 16-19 Enforcement 

Standardization Symposium 

in Kodiak, Alaska, U.S.A. 





July V. Fedorenko takes 

office as Executive Director. 

July R. Carlson passes away. 

(American marine fisheries 

biologist) 



in Juneau, Alaska, U.S.A. 

November 1-2 International 

Symposium “Recent 

Changes in Ocean 

Production of Pacific 

Salmon” in Juneau, Alaksa, 

U.S.A. 

1998 

March 24-25 Re 

Planning and C 

Meeting (RPCM 

Vancouver, Can 

March 26-27 W 

“Climate chang 

Salmon Produc 

Vancouver, Can 

May Office relo 

UBC campus to 

Vancouver. 

November 6 NP 

and PICES sign 

November 1-6 

Meeting of the 

in Moscow, Ru 


2003 

2002 

search 

oordinating 

) in 

ada 

orkshop 

e and 

tion” in 

ada 

cated from 

Downtown 

AFC 

MOU. 

6 th Annual 

Commission 

ssia 

2000 



Meeting (EPCM) in Tokyo, 

Japan 

March 23-26 NPAFC 

Co-sponsors El Niño 

Conference in La Jolla, CA, 

USA. 



Meeting (RPCM) in La Jolla, 

California, U.S.A 

October 29 International 

Workshop “Factors 

Affecting Production 

of Juvenile Salmon: 

Comparative Studies on 

Juvenile Salmon Ecology 

between the East and West 

North Pacific Ocean” in 

Tokyo, Japan 

October 30-November 2 

8 th Annual Meeting of the 

Commission in Tokyo, Japan 

November NPAFC 5 year 

Science Plan was adopted. 

2001 



Meeting (RPCM) in Seattle, 


March 21 International 

Workshop on Salmonid 

Otolith Marking in Seattle, 


May 14-17 Enforcement 

Evaluation and 

Coordination Meeting 

(EECM) in Petropavlovsk- 

Kamchatsky, Russia 

October Plan for NPAFC 

Bering-Aleutian Salmon 

International Survey 

(BASIS) in 2002-2006 wa 

s presented. 

October 28- November 2 


Commission in Victoria, 

Canada 

January 28-February 1 

NPAFC Co-sponsors Stock 

Enhancement and Sea 

Ranching Symposium in 

Kobe, Japan. 





March 14-15 Joint Meeting 

of IBSFC, ICES, NASCO, 

NPAFC, PICES on “Causes 

of Marine Mortality of 

Salmon in the North Pacific 

and North Atlantic Oceans 

and in the Baltic Sea” in 





(EECM) in Kodiak, Alaska, 

U.S.A. 

May 27-29 Bering-Aleutian 

Salmon International Survey 

(BASIS) Working Group 

Meeting in Vladivostok, 

Russia 



in Vladivostok, Russia 

2003 




(EECM) in Queen Charlotte 

City, B.C., Canada 

May 27 Republic of Korea 

became the fifth member of 

the Commission. 

May 29-30 Research 


Meeting (RPCM) in Seattle, 


May 30 Bering-Aleutian 

Salmon International 

Survey (BASIS) Working 

Group Meeting in Seattle 




in Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.A. 

November 1-2 International 

Workshop on “Application 

of Stock Identification 

in Defining Marine 

Distribution and Migration 

of Salmon” in Honolulu, 

Hawaii, U.S.A. 

December T. Uoya takes 

office as Deputy Director. 

December Y. Kondo takes 

office as Deputy Director 



2004 

2004 




Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, 

Russia 

May 14 Bering-Aleutian 

Salmon International Survey 

(BASIS) Working Group 

Meeting in Petropavlovsk- 

Kamchatsky, Russia 




(EECM) in Kushiro City, 

Hokkaido, Japan 

October The NPAFC Public 

Lecture “Pacific Salmon 

a Gift from the Sea” took 

place in Sapporo, Hokkaido, 

Japan 

October24-29 12 th Annual 


in Sapporo, Hokkaido, 

Japan 

October 30-31 International 

Workshop “BASIS-2004: 

Salmon and Marine 

Ecosystems in the Bering 

Sea and Adjacent Waters” in 

Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan 

2005 

April 21-22 Research 



Nanaimo, B.C., Canada 




(EECM) in Vladivostok, 

Russia 

October New NPAFC 

Science Plan 2006-2010 

was approved. 



in Seogwipo, Jeju Island, 


October 30-November 1 

NPAFC-PICES Joint 

Symposium “The status of 

Pacific salmon and their 

role in North Pacific marine 

ecosystems” in Seogwipo, 

Jeju Island, Republic of 

Korea 

2006 

February 28-March 1 

Enforcement Evaluation 

and Coordination Meeting 

(EECM) in Juneau, Alaska, 

USA 

March 2 Enforcement 

Symposium in Juneau, 

Alaska, USA 




Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan 

April 26-27 2 nd NPAFC 

International Workshop 

on “Factors Affecting 

Production of Juvenile 

Salmon: Survival Strategy 

of Asian and North 

American Juvenile Salmon 

in the Ocean” in Sapporo, 

Hokkaido, Japan 

Octocber 23-27 


Commission in Vancouver, 

B.C., Canada 

December 

S. Urawa takes office as 

Deputy Director. 

2007 




(EECM) in Busan, Republic 

of Korea 




Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.A. 

October Long-Term 

Monitoring and Research 

Project funded by Moore 

Foundation was started. 



in Vladivostok, Russia 

2008 

February 27-29 

Enforcement E 

and Coordinat 

(EECM) and N 

IUU Tripartite M 

Vancouver, B.C 

April 7-9 First M 

the Long-Term 

and Monitorin 

(LRMP) in Sok 

of Korea 

April 10-11 Res 

Planning and C 

Meeting (RPC 

Republic of Ko 

September 29- 

Second Meetin 

LRMP in Nana 

Canada 

November 17-2 

Meeting of the 

in Seattle, WA, 

November 23- 

International S 

on “Bering-Ale 

International S 

(BASIS): Clima 

Production Tre 

Carrying Capa 

Salmon in the B 

and Adjacent W 

Seattle, WA, U 


2012 

2009 

valuation 

ion Meeting 

orth Pacific 

eeting in 

., Canada 

eeting for 

Research 

g Plan 

cho, Republic 

earch 

oordinating 

M) in Sokcho, 

rea 

October 2 

g of the 

imo, B.C., 

1 16 th Annual 

Commission 

U.S.A 

25 

ymposium 

utian Salmon 

urvey 

te Change, 

nds and 

city of Pacific 

ering Sea 

aters” in 

.S.A. 



and Coordination 

Meeting (EECM) and 2nd 

Enforcement Workshop in 

Fukuoka, Japan 

April 21-23 

Research Planning and 

Coordinating Meeting 

(RPCM) in Yuzhno- 

Sakhalinsk, Russia 

June 18-20 

Third Meeting of the 

Long-Term Research and 

Monitoring Plan (LRMP) in 

Hon-Shiogama, Japan 

November 2-6 


Commission in Niigata, 

Japan 

December 1 

Deputy Director’s term in 

office of S. Urawa extended 

for one year. 

2010 

April 20-21 Enforcement 



(EECM) in Yuzhno- 

Sakhalinsk, Russia 





November 1-5 18 th Annual 


in Busan, Korea 

December 1 N. Davis takes 

office as Deputy Director 

2011 

January - July 

The first NPAFC intern 

Ms. Y. Ogata from Japan, 

worked at the NPAFC 

Secretariat. 




(EECM) in Honolulu, 

Hawaii, U.S.A. 

April 11-19 

Research Planning and 

Coordinating Meeting 

(RPCM) by email 

communication 

October 23-28 


Commission in Nanaimo. 

B.C., Canada 

October 30-31 

NPAFC International 

Workshop on Explanations 

for the High Abundance of 

Pink and Chum Salmon and 

Future Trends in Nanaimo, 

B.C., Canada 

2012 

January The first NPAFC 

trainee Mr. Youngho Park 

from Korea starts working 

at the Secretariat 




(EECM) and Enforcement 

Workshop on “Procedures 

of Interception and Seizure 

of Vessels of Interest on the 

High Seas” in Jeju Island, 

Korea 



Meeting (RPCM) by email 

communication 



in St. Petersburg, Russia 



2013 

2013 

March 26-27 Committee 

on Enforcement (ENFO) 

Meeting in Vancouver, 

British Columbia, Canada 

April 23-24 Committee on 

Scientific Research and 

Statistics (CSRS) Meeting in 


June 30 Vladimir Fedorenko 

retires after 14 years of 

service 

2014 

March 11-14 Virtual 


and Coordination 

Meeting (EECM) by email 

communication 

2015 

February 17-19 The 

International Year of the 

Salmon (IYS) Scoping 

Meeting in Vancouver, B.C., 

Canada 

April 25-26 NPAFC 3 rd 

International Workshop 

on Migration and Survival 

Mechanisms of Juvenile 

Salmon and Steelhead 

in Ocean Ecosystems in 


Page 114 | Annual Report | 2016 

July 1 Vladimir Radchenko 

takes office as Executive 

Director 

September 23-27 

Committee on Finance 

and Administration 

(F&A) Meeting by email 

communication 

November 12-15 21 st 

Annual Meeting by email 

communication 

May 12-16 22 nd Annual 


in Portland, Oregon, U.S.A. 

September 8 Second 

NPAFC intern, Ms. Yulia 

Simakova from Russia starts 

working at the Secretariat 

October 17 NPAFC-PICES 

Collaborative Workshop 

on Linkages between 

the winter distribution 

of Pacific salmon and 

their ecosystems, Yeosu, 

Republic of Korea. 

March 2-5 Joint Patrol 

Schedule Meeting (JPSM) 

by email communication 

May 11-15 23 rd Annual 


in Kobe, Japan 

May 17-19 The NPAFC 

International Symposium 

on Pacific Salmon and 

Steelhead Production 

in a Changing Climate: 

Past, Present, and Future 

in the Kobe International 

Conference Center, Kobe, 

Japan 

October 1 Third NPAFC 

intern, Mr. Minho Kang from 

Republic of Korea starts 

working at the Secretariat 

December 1 Ms. Wakako 

Morris takes annual leave 

with consequent retirement 

on January 15, 2016, 

after 30 years of service 

at the INPFC and NPAFC 

Secretariats.




Joint Patrol Schedule 

Meeting (JPSM) by e-mail 

communication 

March 15-16 The 2nd 

International Year of the 

Salmon (IYS) Scoping 

Meeting in Vancouver, B.C., 

Canada 

May 16-20 24th Annual 


in Busan, Republic of Korea 

May 20 the 2016-2020 

NPAFC Science Plan is 

adopted 

September 6 Fourth NPAFC 

intern, Ms. Madeline Young 

from Canada starts working 

at the Secretariat 

September 19 Fifth NPAFC 

intern, Mr. William (Bill) 

Stanbury from Canada 

starts working at the 

Secretariat 



IX. Appendices 


Appendix 1 (1/1) 

NPAFC 

DOC. 1619 

REV. 1 

Appendix 2 

Joint Scheme of Patrolling 2016 

1619, Rev.1 (App. 2) -- 5 

Page 118 | Annual Report | 2015


Provisional Agendas–2016 

List of Actions on Prioritized Recommendations from the NPAFC Performance Review Report 

Committee on Scientific Research and Statistics (CSRS) Completed in 2014 

Decisions by CSRS 

2011 2012 2013 2014 

Recommendation by 

PRC 

Recommendation 

# 

NPAFC Unified 

Statistical Data 

Files are 

uploaded on the 

Commission’s 

website. 

Work on creating 

the single NPAFC 

Statistics data file 

is ongoing in 

2013. 

Creation of a single NPAFC 

statistical data file (1926- 

2011) to replace the 

statistical yearbooks and the 

WGSA time series data files 

was approved. The task is 

scheduled to be completed 

by May 2014. 

In progress 

The Secretariat will develop options and costs for 

making data available in electronic form and will 

develop an implementation plan in cooperation with 

the WGSA by the 2012 Annual Meeting. 

Data in the Statistical 

Yearbook should be 

made available in true 

electronic formats. 

2 

Completed 

In progress 

Statistical Yearbook tables on 

non-anadromous species 

(Tables 32-37) have been 

eliminated. 

Completed 

Tables on non-anadromous species in the Statistical 

Yearbook, i.e., Tables 32-37, on the website and in 

the hard copy will no longer be included, effective 

immediately. 

Reporting of nonanadromous 

species 

in the Statistical 

Yearbook should be 

3 

Data update was reported in 

NPAFC Doc. 1422 at the 

2012 CSRS meeting. 

Reassessments will be 

reported approximately every 

5 years and updates reported 

approximately every 2 years. 

Completed 

The WGSA agreed to reassessments approximately 

every 5 years and data updates (not analysis or text) 

approximately every two years. Next data update is 

planned for 2012. 

discontinued. 

Periodic 

comprehensive 

overviews and reports 

of North Pacific 

salmonid stock status 

should be continued. 

Appendix 1 

(ENFO Agenda Items 5c & 5f (i) ) 

Updated March 2016 

5 

Revised ToR for the CSRS, 

Science Sub-Committee, and 

WGs were adopted at the 

2012 Annual Meeting. The 

revised ToR for these groups 

were listed in Doc. 1441 

Appendix 2 and implemented 

at the close of the 2012 

Annual Meeting. The 

potential WGs reorganization 

will be considered as 

appropriate in the future. (See 

also #14, 16, and 21.) 

The CSRS supports the recommendation. CSRS 

PoCs with assistance of the Secretariat and in 

consultation with working groups (WGs) assess the 

existence of WGs and examine the CSRS and WGs 

ToRs. The purpose will be a simultaneous 

implementation of #6, 14, 16, and 21. This includes 

consideration of a preamble to CSRS ToR, revise the 

CSRS ToR, associate CSRS agenda items with its 

ToR; need for current WGs, and creation/updating of 

ToR for all the sub-committees and WGs. A report 

will be drafted by the Secretariat in cooperation with 

the CSRS PoCs and WGs that summarizes the 

revised structure (if any) of sub-committees and 

WGs and the updated ToR for the CSRS and WGs. 

This report will be placed on the CSRS webpage as 

a working document by mid-September 2012. The 

working document will be discussed and revised, if 

necessary, by the CSRS at the 2012 Annual 

Meeting. 

The Commission 

should re-visit and reassess 

the CSRS ToR 

and the need for the 

current working 

groups. How do they 

fit in with the future 

vision for NPAFCcoordinated 

research? 

6 

Completed 

35 

2015 | Annual Report | Page 119




# 

7 

10 

14 

Recommendation by PRC 

The Commission should reassess 

requirements, resources, 

and commitments to the 

multiple databases established 

by the CSRS working groups. 

Consideration should be given 

to direct support and housing by 

the Secretariat. 

The Commission should 

consider a program to compare 

at-sea sampling methods and 

develop conversion factors or at 

least clarify their differences, in 

the context of being able to 

compare results among member 

States. 

CSRS Agenda items should be 

linked with the appropriate 

ToR. 


2011 2012 2013 2014 

The CSRS made its decision on 

moving working-group databases to 

the Secretariat on a case-by case basis. 

The CSRS supports moving the 

INPFC / NPAFC tag release and 

recovery data files and historical 

statistical data to the Secretariat. 

However, the CSRS does not support 

moving the otolith-mark database 

currently supported by ADF&G or 

BASIS databases currently supported 

by the national Parties to the 

Secretariat. Converting the tagrecovery 

data files to a database and 

determining formats for submission of 

new data by the WGST should be 

completed by the 2012 Annual 

Meeting. The plan for compilation of 

statistics into a database(s) will be 

completed by the Secretariat in 

cooperation with the WGSA by the 

2012 Annual Meeting. (See #2 above.) 

Intercalibration of gear and 

comparisons of at-sea sampling 

methods is an important and 

continuing process. Experimental 

work will continue for specific 

programs as the need arises. A report 

on comparisons of at-sea sampling 

methods that summarizes previous 

CSRS-related work on this topic is 

currently available on the web. 

The INPFC/NPAFC disk 

tag release and recovery 

data were transferred to the 

Secretariat in 2012. A plan 

was approved to transfer 

archival tag data to the 

Secretariat by spring 2014. 

Transfer of statistical data 

files are described under 

#2. 

In progress 

A report on comparison of 

at-sea sampling methods 

was finalized and available 

on the NPAFC website. 

When further experimental 

work is required for 

intercalibration of gear for 

specific programs, it will be 

done as the need arises. 

The 

INPFC/NPAFC 

disk tag release 

and recovery data 

are accessible in 

the Members’ 

Area of the 

website. The 

Secretariat has 

updated the 

database as 

documents are 

submitted. 

Work on transfer 

of data storage tag 

data files to 

NPAFC is 

ongoing in 2013. 

In progress 

The archival tag 

data are 

accessible in the 

Members’ Area 

of the NPAFC 

website. 

Completed 

Implementation of #6, 14, 16, and 21 

will be done simultaneously. (See #6 

above.) 

Completed 

See #6, 16, and 21. 

Completed 

36 





# 

16 

18 

21 


The CSRS should seek 

opportunities to provide advice, 

both internally and externally, 

in regards to issues affecting the 

conservation of anadromous 

stocks in the Convention Area. 

In this context, it would be 

helpful for the CSRS to identify 

its main “goals” or purposes in 

relation to the Convention, as a 

preface to its ToR (i.e., what is 

the CSRS trying to 

accomplish?). 

The CSRS should be requested 

to examine specifically the issue 

of incidental takes of salmon in 

the North Pacific to determine if 

it is an issue, and if so, make 

recommendations on how these 

may be mitigated. 

The ToR and objectives for all 

CSRS WGs should be made 

more explicit, as has been done 

for some but not all CSRS WGs 

(see Table 2.4 of Performance 

Review Report). This would 

provide each WG with a clear 

set of goals and a clear standard 

against which progress towards 

these goals can be determined. 


2011 2012 2013 2014 

Implementation of #6, 14, 16, and 21 

will be done simultaneously. (See #6 

above.) 

See #6, 14, and 21. 

The CSRS supported the 

recommendation in principle, but could 

not reach a consensus about whether 

incidental takes of salmon could only 

be considered within the Convention 

Area, or if waters adjacent to the 

Convention Area could also be 

considered. The Secretariat with the 

assistance and cooperation of the CSRS 

PoCs will investigate the ToR for 

reporting incidental catches within the 

Convention Area and adjacent waters 

and report on this information at the 

2012 Annual Meeting. A decision will 

be made at that time about further 

consideration of this recommendation. 

The CSRS supports the 

recommendation. Implementation of 

#6, 14, 16, and 21 will be done 

simultaneously. (See #6 above.) 

Completed 

CSRS decided it would be 

useful for each Party to 

provide full information of 

all salmon catches from their 

fisheries, and identify 

incidental catches where 

possible. The Commission 

adopted the recommendation 

that the Parties annually 

provide a full accounting of 

all catches. 

Completed 

See #6, 14, and 16. 

Completed 

37 





# 

24 

31 

34 


The Commission should encourage the 

Parties to become parties to the 

Agreement on Port State Measures to 

Prevent, Deter and Eliminate Illegal, 

Unreported and Unregulated Fishing, and 

ENFO should analyze that applicability of 

the Agreement to the NPAFC context and 

provide recommendations to the 

Commission thereon. 

The agendas of EECM and ENFO should 

be reviewed to ensure better 

rationalization of activities and resources 

and to avoid the duplication in discussion 

and reporting that currently occurs. 

ENFO-ToR should be reviewed and 

updated to better reflect the contemporary 

enforcement needs of the Commission. 

Committee on Enforcement (ENFO) 

Decisions by ENFO 

2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 

1. Parties will report on 

their accession to the 

Agreement at 2012 

Annual Meeting. 

2. ENFO will analyze 

the applicability of 

the Agreement to the 

NPAFC context and 

develop necessary 

recommendations on 

its implementation by 

2013 Annual 

Meeting. 

Depending on the 

decision at the 2011 

Annual Meeting 

(whether or not to hold 

Annual Meetings and 

Interim Meetings 

together), ENFO will 

develop 

recommendations on this 

issue at 2012 EECM. 

New version of ENFO- 

ToR will be drafted and 

presented to the 

Commission for 

approval by 2013 


Each Party 

will give a 

proposal at 


ENFO 

Meeting. 

In progress 

EECMs are no 

longer 

conducted after 

2012. 

Completed 

This item was 

combined with 

#38. 

Revisit the 

issue at 2014 

Annual 

Meeting. 

In progress 

This item 

was 

combined 

with item 

#38. 

New ENFO 

ToR was 

adopted. 

Revisit the 

issue at 2015 

Annual 

Meeting. 

In progress 

Revisit the issue at 

2016 Annual 

Meeting. 


and USA ratified 

the PSMA in 

February 2016. 

In progress 

In progress 

Completed 

38 





# 

36 

38 


The Commission should consider the 

rationale and modus operandi for how best 

to engage with the new North Pacific 

RFMO. 

ENFO should be tasked with preparing a 

study on the possible further contribution 

of the NPAFC to the implementation of 

the IPOA-IUU. 

Decisions by ENFO 

2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 

Memorandum of 

Cooperation between the 

two organizations will 

be drafted and presented 

for approval by the 

Commission tentatively 

at 2013 Annual Meeting, 

depending on the time of 

formation of the new 

organization. 

The 

organization is 

not yet formed. 

The 

organization 

is formed, but 

wait until the 

NPFC 

Secretariat is 

in full 

operation. 

Collaborative 

enforcement 

strategy with 

NPFC will be 

discussed at 

the NPFC 


Meeting. 

Enforcement 

collaboration has 

been proposed to 

NPFC. 

Development of 

collaborative 

strategy will be 

discussed at the 

NPAFC 2016 


The results of a study 

should be incorporated 

into a revised ENFO-ToR 

by 2013 Annual Meeting. 

In progress 

New ToR will 

be discussed at 

2013 ENFO 

meeting. 

In progress 

This item was 

combined 

with item 

#34. 

This issue is 

incorporated 

into the new 

ENFO ToR. 

In progress 

In progress 

In progress 

Completed 

39 





# 

39 

42 

43 

44 

46 

Committee on Finance and Administration (F&A) Completed in 2012 



consider amending the 

terminology used in the Rules 

of Procedure (RoP) to refer to 

‘Representatives’ as 

‘Commissioners’ or to 

otherwise clarify RoP 9-11 to 

bring them into line with 

current practice. 


develop a policy on the 

provision of interpretation at its 

meetings for new member states 

and any possible future 

cooperating non-contracting 

parties. 


consider amending RoP 5a to 

reduce the notice period 

required for the seating of 

observers and consider other 

ways in which to make the 

Commission more open to 

individuals or representatives of 

other organizations. 

Consideration should be given 

to clarifying the use of an 

uncapitalised ‘r’ in Staff Rule 

22. 

The Commission should turn its 

mind to a definitive clarification 

of RoP 19 (a) and the hiring 

process for the Deputy Director. 

Decisions by F&A 

2011 2012 

1. RoP 9-11: no changes will be made. 

2. RoP 7 (re-voting): The committee suggested the 

following amendment: “Commission vote may be cast by 

any one Representative or alternate Representative from 

each Party. A committee vote may be cast by a 

Representative or by an advisor designated for that 

purpose”. 

3. Keep ‘Representative’, not to change to 

‘Commissioner’. 

All Parties agreed to develop a policy: 

“During the meetings of NPAFC, the Commission will 

use only the languages of the existing Parties of the 

Commission, i.e., a new member will be provided with 

the interpretation services for its language if it is other 

than the current languages. As for non-Contracting 

Member, the interpretation services or a delegation 

room at the meetings will not be provided”. Such 

provision will be reflected in the minutes of the Annual 

Meeting, not by changing the Rules of Procedure. 

Change the application deadline from 120 days to 90 

days and change the Parties' consideration of the 

application from 90 days to 30 days. 

Change from “representative” to “Representative.” 

Completed 

Completed 

Completed 

Completed 

Retain the Status Quo; no changes from the current 

hiring process for the time being. However, during the 

process of hiring new Executive Director clarify what is 

expected of the Deputy Director as acting Executive 

Director, should the necessity arise. Completed 

40 





# 

47 

49 

50 

51 

53 

54 


The Commission should establish a 

publications committee to review the 

efficacy and format of Commission 

publications and the website in order 

to fully consolidate the gains to be 

achieved by the increasing use of 

electronic and online publishing 

possibilities. 

Consideration should be given to 

increasing the IT capacity, both in 

terms of physical hardware and in 

terms of personnel, within the 

Secretariat. 

Professional assistance should be 

engaged to properly address the issue 

of publicity for the Commission and 

to ensure maximum public relations 

gains. 

The Parties should consider 

increasing administrative support 

within the Secretariat to meet the 

increasing demands being made on 

Secretariat staff and to ensure the 

Secretariat’s ability to carry out 

strategic projects of importance to the 

Commission. 

The F&A should establish a working 

group to examine the mid- to longterm 

translation and interpretation 

needs of the Commission and the 

financial implications thereof. 

The Commission should consider the 

establishment of a working group to 

consider its future and clearly 

articulate its objectives and goals for 

the future. In doing so, the Parties 

should consider prioritizing current 

and future expenditures to focus on 

core Commission activities, rather 

than curtailing those core activities. 

Decisions by F&A 

2011 2012 

Create a Publication Policy Working Group 

(PPWG), which will consist of one representative 

from ENFO and F&A, and two from CSRS. The 

working group will be under the auspices of the 

Secretariat. Since the majority of the issues will be 

CSRS-related, the Deputy Director will be in 

charge of the group from the Secretariat. 

IIS and Otolith Database will remain in Russia and 

ADF&G, USA respectively. Another database to be 

placed in the Secretariat will be transferred without 

having to increase physical hardware. Temporary 

IT personnel may be hired for short-term projects. 

The Secretariat will deal with this issue in-house, 

coordinating with the new Chairperson of the F&A 

to clarify goals and objectives. 

PPWG was created (Doc. 

1442 Appendix 4). 

See #51 

Completed 

Completed 

Goals and objectives were 

clarified. Future issues 

will be combined with 

PPWG (#47). 

Defer the decision until the 2012 Annual Meeting 

with more detailed explanation from the Secretariat 

regarding hiring additional staff, cost, timing, and 

cost of transfer/conversion of database(s) requested 

by CSRS. 

Completed 

Hiring of an additional 

staff was approved. 

The committee considered such a step to be 

unnecessary at this time. 

Completed 

It was agreed that no working group is necessary, 

but that this item should be on the agenda of each 

committee at future meetings. 

Completed 

Completed 

41 




Abbreviations for CSRS 

ADF&G: Alaska Department of Fish and Game 

BASIS: Bering-Aleutian Salmon International 

Survey 

INPFC: International North Pacific Fisheries 

Commission 

PoC: Points of Contact 

PRC: Performance Review Committee 

ToR: Terms of Reference 

WGs: Working Groups 

WGSA: Working Group on Stock Assessment 

WGST: Working Group on Salmon Tagging 

Abbreviations for ENFO 

EECM: Enforcement Evaluation and Coordination Meeting 

IPOA-IUU: International Plan of Action to Prevent, Deter and 

Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated 

Fishing 

NPFC: North Pacific Fisheries Commission 


PSMA: Port Sate Measures Agreement 

RFMO: Regional Fisheries Management Organization 

ToR: Terms of Reference 

Abbreviations for Committee F&A 

ADF&G: Alaska Department of Fish and Game 

IIS: Integrated Information System 

PPWG Publication Policy Working Group 


RoP: Rules of Procedure 

42 



Party/ 

Program 

Canada/ 

DFO 

Nanaimo 

Canada/ 

DFO 

Nanaimo 

Research Vessel Cruise Plans in 2016 and a Future Cruise 

Survey Region 

Canada EEZ: waters 

surrounding Vancouver 

Island and central coast 

of British Columbia, 

(Strait of Georgia, Gulf 

Islands, Juan de Fuca 

Strait, Johnstone Strait, 

West Coast of 

Vancouver Island), and 

Puget Sound 

Canada EEZ: Gulf 

Islands, Howe Sound 

Vessel and 

Tentative Dates 

CCGS W.E. 

Ricker: June 

21-July 17, 

September 13- 

October 18, 


(preliminary 

schedule). 

CCGS 

Neocaligus: 

April 16-22, 

May 13-18, 

June 20-24, 

July 21-25, 

August 25-29, 

September 19- 

24, 2016 

Research Focus 

Trawl surveys (250 Trawl): 

Biological information on 

salmon and the associated fish 

community, DNA samples for 

stock identification and data on 

migration timing and 

distribution of juvenile salmon, 

possible interactions between 

juvenile salmon and other 

pelagic species, oceanographic 

conditions, zooplankton 

biomass and community 

composition will be collected. 

The summer survey will also 

include an offshore leg to meet 

similar sampling objectives 

along Canada’s 200 nm EEZ. 

An additional objective of this 

portion of the summer survey is 

to investigate the high seas 

distribution and migration 

timing of mature and immature 

Pacific salmon. 

Trawl surveys (180 Trawl): 

Monitoring distribution and 

migration of juvenile Fraser 

River and Cowichan Bay 

salmon in nearshore areas. 

NPAFC 

Doc. 1668 

Appendix 2 

Contact 

Chrys.Neville@dfompo.gc.ca, 

DFO, 

Nanaimo; Marc Trudel, 

Marc.Trudel@dfompo.gc.ca; 

NPAFC Doc. 1656 


DFO, 




1668(App.2).....35 



Party/ 

Program 

Survey Region 

Vessel and 


Charter vessel (not 

yet named): 

Johnstone Strait: 

May 10-11, 

May 17-18, 

May 31- 

June 1, 

June 7-8, 

June 14-15, 

June 21-22, 

June 28-29, 

July 6-7, 

July 12-13, 2016 

Cowichan Bay: 

May 4-5, 

May 30-31, 

June 27-28, 

Jul 28-29, 2016 

Big Qualicum 

River: 

June 2-3, 

June 30- 

July 1, 2016 

Clayoquot Sound: 

May 16-21, 

June 13-18, 2016 


Contact 

Canada/ 

DFO 

Nanaimo 

Canada EEZ: 

Lower Johnstone 

Strait/Discovery 

Islands, Cowichan 

Bay and Big 

Qualicum River, 

Clayoquot Sound 

Purse seine surveys: 

The primary objective of the 

survey in Johnstone 

Strait/Discovery Islands will be 

to determine the timing of 

migration of juvenile sockeye 

salmon from the Fraser River 

out of the Strait of Georgia, 

however all salmon species will 

be studied. DNA samples will 

be collected to allow migration 

timing to be examined at a 

stock-specific level. This 

survey, in conjunction with the 

trawl surveys in the Strait of 

Georgia, will also examine 

changes in condition and 

growth rates of juvenile 

sockeye salmon encountered 

during their early marine 

residence. 

The primary objective of the 

Cowichan, Big Qualicum, and 

Clayoquot surveys is to 

examine changes in condition 

and growth of both hatcheryreared 

and wild Chinook and 

coho salmon during the early 

marine period to improve 

understanding of factors that 

regulate early marine survival. 

Samples obtained on these 

surveys will be compared with 

reference samples taken from 

associated hatcheries and 

watersheds to provide a 

measure of change during early 

marine residence. 


DFO, 




1668(App.2).....36 



Party/ 

Program 

Survey Region 

Vessel and 



Contact 

Japan/ 

FRA 

Sapporo 

NPAFC 

Convention Area: 

central Bering Sea 

R/V Hokko maru: 

July 27-August 19, 


Surface trawl survey: hookand-line 

gear will also be 

used. The objective is to 

examine salmon abundance and 

distribution. 

Kengo Suzuki, 

HNFRI, 

skengo@affrc.go.jp; 


Rev. 1 

Japan/ 

Hokkaido 

University 

NPAFC 


western and central 

North Pacific 

R/V Oshoro maru: 

Western North 

Pacific: May 12-23, 


Central North 

Pacific: June 19- 

July 15, 2016 

Gillnets, longline, hook-andline 

and jigging gear will be 

used. The objective is to 

examine distribution and 

ecology of salmon and other 

pelagic fishes. A research 

gillnet less than 2.5 km in 

length will be used. 

Kengo Suzuki, 

HNFRI, 

skengo@affrc.go.jp; 


Rev. 1 

Russia/ 

TINRO- 

Center 

Russian EEZ and 

NPAFC 


northwestern North 

Pacific 

R/V Professor 

Kaganovsky: 

June-middle of July, 


Midwater trawl (model 

RT/TM 80/396 m) survey: 

The primary objectives are to 

collect biological information 

on plankton and nekton 

communities, and describe the 

physical and biological 

oceanographic conditions in 

this region. The major purpose 

of these studies is the 

estimation of anadromous 

Pacific salmon abundance and 

biomass for short-term 

forecasting of their returns and 

possible catch. 

Midwater trawl (model 

RT/TM 80/396 m) survey: 

The major purpose is estimation 

of juvenile salmon abundance 

and biomass for forecasting 

returns and possible catch in 

subsequent years. Studies of 

salmon distribution, salmon 

food habits, dependence of 

salmon feeding on biomass and 

composition of plankton and 

nekton communities, changes 

of biological condition of 

salmon during anadromous 

migrations and foraging, 

salmon spatial differentiation, 

structure of stocks contributing 

to the mixture, and influence of 

the abiotic environment on 

salmon are planned. 

Olga Temnykh, 

TINRO-Center, 

olga.temnykh@tinrocenter.ru; 


Russia/ 

TINRO- 

Center and 

KamchatNI 

RO 

Russian EEZ and 

Okhotsk Sea 

(TINRO-Center) 

Territorial waters 

near the West 

Kamchatka shelf 

and estuarine zone 

near the Bolshaya 

River 

(KamchatNIRO) 

R/V TINRO: 

October-November, 


Olga Temnykh, 

TINRO-Center, 

olga.temnykh@tinrocenter.ru; 


1668(App.2).....37 



Party/ 

Program 

Survey Region 

Vessel and 



Contact 

USA/ 

NMFS, 

Southeast 

Alaska 

Coastal 

Monitoring 

US EEZ: northern 

region of 

Southeast Alaska 

R/V Sashin: 

May 20-22, 2016; 

F/V Northwest 

Explorer: 

June 24-July 1, 

July 26-August 2, 

August 22-29, 


Summer cruises of the F/V 

Northwest Explorer will be 

surface trawl surveys: 

sampling will include CTD, 

chlorophyll and nutrients, 

zooplankton, and fish 

abundance and distribution. 

The objective of Southeast 

Coastal Monitoring Project 

research to study the habitat use 

and early marine ecology of 

juvenile (age-0) Pacific salmon 

and associated epipelagic 

ichthyofauna in Southeast 

Alaska and in the Gulf of 

Alaska ecosystem. 

The May cruise of the R/V 

Shashin will focus on 

oceanography (it is not a trawl 

survey). 

Joe Orsi, NMFS, Auke 

Bay Labs, 

Joe.Orsi@noaa.gov; 


USA/ 

NMFS, Gulf 

of Alaska 

Project 

US EEZ: Gulf of 

Alaska off the 

coast of southeast 

Alaska 

Chartered sternramp 

trawl vessel 

(not yet named): 

Cruise Leg 1a: 

July 3-15, 

Cruise Leg 1b: 

July 16-24, 2016 

Midwater rope trawl surveys: 

objectives are to survey epipelagic 

fish populations, 

zooplankton, ichthyoplankton, 

and physical and biological 

oceanographic conditions. 

Jamal Moss, NMFS, 

Auke Bay Labs, 

jamal.moss@noaa.gov; 


USA/ 

ADFG/USF 

W/NMFS 

Ecosystem 

Monitoring 

and 

Assessment 

Program 

US EEZ: 

Northern Bering 

Sea, including 

Norton Sound and 

Bering Sea Strait 

F/V Cape Flattery: 

Leg 1: 

August 25- 

September 6, 

Leg 2: 

September 6-18, 


Midwater rope trawl surveys: 

Primary objectives of the 

survey will be to: (1) provide 

information on how species 

distribution and marine food 

webs are altered by climate and 

seasonal ice in the northern 

Bering Sea; (2) collect 

biological and oceanographic 

information pertinent to 

juvenile salmon and forage 

fishes in the region; and (3) 

calibrate trawl catches with 

ADFG between large (F/V 

Cape Flattery) and small vessel 

(R/V Pandalus) operations. The 

trawl calibration is planned to 

be completed in 2016. Another 

objective of the survey is to 

continue oceanographic time 

series sampling on the DBO2 

(Distributed Biological 

Observatory) station line. 

Ed Farley, Auke Bay 

Labs, 

Ed.Farley@noaa.gov 


1668(App.2).....38 



Party/ 

Program 

Survey Region 

Vessel and 



Contact 

USA/ 

NMFS 

Northern Bering 

Sea/Chukchi 

Sea/Beaufort Sea 

Vessel has not yet 

been named; 

tentative survey 

dates during May, 

early August, early 

October, 2017 and 

2019 

To understand how climate 

change will affect the 

distribution and abundance of 

marine mammals, fish, 

seabirds, and the food they 

depend upon, throughout the 

northern Bering, Chukchi, and 

Beaufort seas. The fieldwork 

includes comprehensive 

surveys of physics, chemistry, 

and biology from ships 

deployed for 18 days during 

spring and for 65 days at sea 

during late summer. One of 

themes to address is the 

expansion of salmon 

distribution into a warming 

Arctic. 

Ed Farley, Auke Bay 

Labs, 

Ed.Farley@noaa.gov 

---------- 

1668(App.2).....39 



Sample and Data Requests (2016 CSRS Meeting) 

Request Research Purpose Contact Persons Timeline Comments 

Requested 

Party 

Requesting 

Party 

Request 

No. 

Request is 

completed. 

Terry Beacham 

(Terry.Beacham@dfompo.gc.ca) 

contacts Shunpei 

Sato (shuns@fra.affrc.go.jp) 

Evaluate stock composition 

of sockeye salmon 

distributed in the central 

Bering Sea in 2015. 

C15-01 Canada Japan Sockeye salmon tissues collected during 

the 2015 Japanese Bering Sea salmon 

research cruise. 

Terry Beacham 


contacts Shunpei 

Sato (shuns@fra.affrc.go.jp) 

Evaluate stock composition 

of sockeye salmon 

distributed in the central 

Bering Sea in 2016. 

C16-01 Canada Japan Sockeye salmon tissues collected from 

immature fish caught during the 2016 

Japanese central Bering Sea salmon 

research cruise. 

Sang Gyu Kim 

(sgkim@fra.or.kr) contacts 

Terry Beacham 


for Canada, 

Shunpei Sato 

(shuns@fra.affrc.go.jp) for 

Japan, Alexander Bugaev 

(bugaev.a.v@kamniro.ru) for 

Russia, William Templin 

(bill.templin@alaska.gov) for 

USA. 

Stock analysis of chum 

salmon based on 

mitochondrial DNA 

sequences for Korean 

stock identification. 

Chum salmon genetic samples collected 

from two spawning populations 

(anywhere, but apart from each other, if 

possible). Genetic sample of 1 g of fin 

clip preserved in alcohol. Number of 

fish sampled should approach 100 fish 

from each population. 

K16-01 Korea Canada, 

Japan, 

Russia, 

USA 

NPAFC 

Doc. 1668 

Appendix 6 

1668(App.6).....45 



Request 

No. 

Requesting 

Party 

Requested 

Party 

K16-02 Korea Japan, 

Russia 


Cherry salmon and non-anadromous 

cherry salmon, genetic samples collected 

from at least two spawning populations 

(anywhere but apart from each other, if 

possible). Genetic sample requested is 1 g 

of fin clip preserved in alcohol. Number 

of fish sampled should approach 100 fish 

from each population. 

R15-01 Russia USA Pink salmon genetic samples (tissues) 

requested from adult fish for odd- and 

even-year runs. Samples from these 

geographical regions: Kodiak Island, 

Aleutian Islands, Northwest Alaska 

(Nome River, Snake River), South central 

Alaska (AFK Hatchery, Koppen Creek). 

Require tissues samples for 2-3 principal 

stocks for every region (1 samples 100 

fish). 

Stock analysis of cherry 

salmon based on 

mitochondrial DNA 

sequences for Korean stock 

identification. 

Development of SNP 

baseline data 

Sang Gyu Kim 

(sgkim@fra.or.kr) contacts 

Shunpei Sato 

(shuns@fra.affrc.go.jp for 

Japan, Alexander Bugaev 


Russia. 


(bugaev.a.v@kamniro.ru) 

contacts William Templin 

(bill.templin@alaska.gov) 

Russia has provided 

some samples. Korea 

seeks additional 

samples, if possible. 

Korea recognizes 

there is difficulty in 

obtaining samples. 

There is also difficulty 

for Japan to find 

samples from 

completely nonanadromous 

cherry 

salmon. The two 

Parties will work out 

the details. 

The initial request is 

completed, but parties 

agreed to leave the 

request open, in case 

more samples were 

needed. 

R15-02 Russia Canada Pink salmon genetic samples (tissues) 

requested from adult fish for odd- and 

even-year runs. Samples from these 

geographical regions: Skeena River, 

Fraser River, Queen Charlotte Islands, 

Vancouver Islands, North coast, Central 

coast, South coast. Require tissues 

samples from 2-3 principal stocks for 

every region (1 samples 100 fish). 


baseline data 



contacts Terry Beacham 


Canada provided 

some samples at the 

2016 CSRS meeting. 

If more samples were 

needed, additional 

sampes can be 

provided at the 2017 

CSRS meeting in 

Victoria, BC. 

1668(App.6).....46 



Request 

No. 

Requesting 

Party 

Requested 

Party 

R15-04 Russia USA Sockeye salmon genetic samples 

(tissues) requested from adult fish. 

Samples from these geographical regions: 

Norton Sound, Northwest Bristol Bay, and 

Yukon and Kuskokwim rivers, Southeast 

Bristol Bay, Alaska Peninsula, Kodiak 

Island, Aleutian Islands, Western Gulf of 

Alaska, State of Washington. Require 

tissues samples for 2-3 principal stocks for 

every region (1 samples 100 fish). 



baseline data 





The initial request is 

completed, but parties 

agreed to leave the 

request open, in case 

more samples were 

needed. Electronic 

data to accompany the 

samples will be sent 

shortly after the 2016 

CSRS meeting. 

R15-05 Russia Canada Sockeye salmon genetic samples 

(tissues) requested from adult fish. 

Samples from these geographical regions: 

Skeena River, Fraser River, Nass River, 

Queen Charlotte Islands, Vancouver 

Islands, North coast, Central coast, South 

coast. Require tissues samples for 2-3 

principal stocks for every region (1 

samples 100 fish). 


baseline data 



contacts Terry Beacham 


Canada provided 

some samples at the 

2016 CSRS meeting. 

If any more samples 

are needed, they can 

be provided at the 

2017 CSRS meeting 

in Victoria, BC. 

R15-06 Russia USA Sockeye salmon scale (impressions) and 

standard biological data for 2014 and 

2015 from Port Moller. Request is for 

600-800 fish scale samples per year. 

Baseline data Alexander Bugaev 




Scale sample - acetate 

impressions. Request 

was completed. 

R15-07 Russia USA Chum salmon scale (impressions) and 

standard biological data for 2014 and 

2015 from the following rivers: Yukon 

R., Nushagak R., and Kuskokwim R. 

Request is for 300-400 fish scale samples. 

Baseline data Alexander Bugaev 




Scale sample - acetate 

impression. Request 

was completed. 

1668(App.6)......47 



Request 

No. 

Requesting 

Party 

Requested 

Party 

U07-05 USA Canada, 

Japan, 

Russia 


Steelhead genetics 

samples (fin preserved 

in ethanol) from North 

Pacific sampling 

Ocean distribution of 

steelhead 

Ken Warheit 

(Kenneth.Warheit@dfw.wa.gov) 

contacts Shunpei Sato 

(shuns@fra.affrc.go.jp) for 

Japan, Maxim Koval 

(koval.m.v@kamniro.ru) for 

Russia, and Marc Trudel 

(Marc.Trudel@dfo-mpo.gc.ca) 

for Canada 

Baseline sample request was completed. 

BC Ministry of the Environment provided 

samples, and samples from 8 major 

drainages in Kamchatka have been 

provided. Ocean sample request is 

continuing. Japan provided 2007-2009 

at-sea samples; some Russian at-sea 

samples provided in 2007 and 2008. 

Canada has no samples at this time. No 

steelhead genetic samples were collected 

from the 2014 and 2015 Hokko maru 

cruise. 

U13-02 USA Canada Anadromous sockeye 

salmon and nonanadromous 

kokanee (O. nerka); 

one collection of 

anadromous and one 

collection of nonanadromous 

samples 

from noninterbreeding, 

but 

from proximal 

locations (for example 

adjacent drainages); 

genetic sample of 1 g 

of fin clip or other 

somatic tissue 

preserved in alcohol at 

room temperature. 

Number of fish 

sampled should 

approach 100 fish per 

collection. 

Study of the genetics of 

anadromy 

Jim Seeb 

(jseeb@uw.edu) contacts 

Terry Beacham 


for Canada. 

T. Beacham suggested that they have 

existing samples in their laboratory for 

both sockeye and kokanee from the Fraser 

River drainage that would meet the 

criteria outlined. He is the contact person 

for these samples. J. Seeb and T. 

Beacham have discussed the existence of 

these samples in an archive. The request 

is in progress and is expected to be 

completed at the 2017 CSRS meeting in 

Victoria, BC. 

1668(App.6).....48 



Request 

No. 

Requesting 

Party 

UC15-01 US & 

Canada 

Requested 

Party 

Russia Pink salmon genetic samples from six 

(6) stocks of each lineage from spawning 

locations across the northern and arctic 

extent of the species range in Asia (north 

of the Haylulya River). Paired even- and 

odd-year samples are not necessary when 

not available. Tissue samples should be 

of sufficient size to share between nations. 

The sample size of each collection should 

approach 100 fish. 


Baseline development Terry Beacham 


for Canada and Lisa 

Seeb (lseeb@uw.edu) for US 

contacts Alexander Bugaev 


Russia 

Russia plans to 

provide these samples 

at the 2017 CSRS 

meeting. 

UC15-02 US & 

Canada 

Russia Coho salmon genetic samples from eight 

(8) stocks distributed across the range of 

the species in Russia. Tissue samples 

should be of sufficient size to share 

between nations. The sample size of each 

collection should approach 100 fish. 

Baseline development Terry Beacham 


for Canada and 

William Templin 

(bill.templin@alaska.gov) for 

US contacts Alexander Bugaev 


Russia 

Request was 

completed. 

U16-01 US Japan Chinook and Sockeye salmon tissues 

collected during the 2015 Japanese Bering 

Sea salmon research cruise. 

Investigate Chinook and 

sockeye salmon 

distribution in the central 

Bering Sea in 2015. 

Jim Seeb 

(jseeb@u.washington.edu) 


(shuns@fra.affrc.go.jp) 

Request was 

completed, including 

a snout from a adipose 

fin-clipped fish 

U16-02 US Japan Chinook and Sockeye salmon tissues 

collected during the 2016 Japanese Bering 

Sea salmon research cruise. 

Investigate Chinook and 

sockeye salmon 

distribution in the central 

Bering Sea in 2016. 

Jim Seeb 

(jseeb@u.washington.edu) 


(shuns@fra.affrc.go.jp) 

--------- 

1668(App.6)......49 



NPAFC FUNDING REQUEST FORM 

NPAFC 

Doc. 1668 

Appendix 5 

This form is to be used by CSRS or ENFO when requesting funds from F&A 

Date: May 18, 2016 

Project requests for NPAFC funds must fall within the mandate of Commission activities and highlight 

expected benefits, if funded. These funds are not expected to subsidize or offset budgets for the normal 

operations of each Party. Approved projects must improve understanding of the biology or promote the 

sustainability or protection of Pacific salmon. Projects must be completed within specific timeframes 

and not be funded on an ongoing basis. Approval requires a consensus of all Parties. 

Requesting Committee: CSRS 

Title of Request: Funding request for the International Year of the Salmon two year planning phase 

2016/17 and 2017/18 

Relevance to committee's Terms of Reference, Science Plan, etc. 

The International Year of the Salmon initiative as proposed in NPAFC Document 1663 has been 

approved by the CSRS. The IYS is explicitly integrated into the new 2016–2020 NPAFC Science plan 

(Document 1665). The IYS research themes have been linked to the Science Plan themes and CSRS 

Working Group activities. The IYS themes are relevant to all of the themes in the new Science Plan. 

Total amount requested (Canadian dollars): $65,000 in 2016/17 and $64,500 in 2017/18 

Breakdown (2016/17): 

NPAFC share of Brand/logo and website $28,000 

N. Pacific Steering Committee meeting $32,000 

2018 Symposium expenses $ 5,000 

The brand/logo and website development are estimates for contracted services based on 

previous work of a similar nature conducted by NASCO. Note that this is 50% of the full cost 

that will be shared with NASCO pending approval at the June 2016 annual meeting of 

NASCO. The hosting of the North Pacific Steering Committee research planning and 

coordination meeting will include the following: 

Facilitation $ 5,000 

Meeting room $ 5,000 

Rapporteur $ 5,000 

Travel for subject matter experts and Commissioner $15,000 

Materials and supplies $ 2,000 

Symposium expenses in this year will include room holding costs. 

All opportunities for sponsorship and external funding will be explored to reduce costs. 

1668(App.5).....42 



Breakdown (2017/18): 

N. Pacific Steering Committee meeting $32,000 

2018 Symposium expenses $32,500 

The hosting of the North Pacific Steering Committee research planning and coordination 

meeting are identical to the 2016/17 details provided above. The Symposium expenses will 

include room rental costs including audio-visual requirements, travel, food and printing costs. 

NPAFC and NASCO secretariats have developed these preliminary estimates and are very 

experienced hosting symposia. 

Date(s) of Expenditure: 

Confirmation of the 2016/17 timeline will take place in late June 2016 after NASCO intentions are known 

following their June 2016 annual meeting. It is anticipated that a request for proposals for the brand/logo 

and website development will be available in late summer 2016 with the work to be completed in early 

2017. The North Pacific Steering Committee research planning and coordination meeting will be 

scheduled for early 2017. Expenditures related to the Symposium will be incurred in the spring of 2017. 

Expected benefits to the Commission: 

The IYS is a mechanism to engage partners in the work of the NPAFC Science Plan. This has the 

potential to lever the current investments in science by the parties and significantly enhance the progress 

and outcomes required to understand and manage salmon effectively in a rapidly changing environment. 

This modest sum is required to support engagement of partners at the planning stage. The Coordinating 

Committee and the North Pacific Steering Committee will do the work of planning the activities and 

generating the resources required but will be challenged without these enabling funds. The dedication of 

these resources will signal the intention of the NPAFC to move forward with implementation. 

Supplementary Information (abstract, project organization, timeframe, etc): 

A draft agenda for an IYS North Pacific Steering Committee Research Planning and Coordination 

meeting is provided below. The CSRS is also requesting the assistance of F&A in the development of 

administrative procedures and fund development approaches required for this large international 

collaboration. 

International Year of the Salmon (IYS) 

IYS North Pacific Steering Committee Research Planning and Coordination Meeting 

DRAFT AGENDA 

Purpose: To convene a meeting of the IYS North Pacific Steering Committee including core partners and 

funders to develop operating procedures, outreach plans, and identify research priorities, plans and 

funding strategies by research theme. 

Dates: 3 days in early 2017 

Location: To be determined 

1668(App.5).....43 



Preparation timeline: 

June-Sept 2016 – IYS-WG to develop by email draft research priorities and projects and 

associated key partners 

June-Sept – Secretariat and IYS to convene a small steering committee to begin planning the 

meeting 

Sept-Dec – IYS-WG developing concepts with research partners 

Sept-Dec – Small steering committee engaging potential funders 

Jan-Feb – Conduct meeting 

Day 1 

 

 

 

 

Day 2 

 

 

Day 3 

 

 

Welcome and introductions 

Review meeting objectives 

Review of IYS to date including governance and research model 

Hemispheric scale research linked to the North Pacific 

Review of objectives and priorities by research theme 

Development of funding strategy by research theme 

Development of funding strategy by research theme (cont’d) 

Outreach strategy 

Participants: IYS-Working Group, 1-2- experts per research theme, 2-3 potential funders by research 

theme with balance from western and eastern Pacific interests. 

Deliverables: 

Meeting report 

Research and business plans for IYS in the North Pacific 

To be completed by F&A: 

If accepted, funds will be charged to: 

Working Capital Funds $______________ 

SFSR Funds $______________ 

General Funds $______________ 

Others 

$______________ 

---------- 

1668(App.5).....44 



NPAFC FUNDING REQUEST FORM 

NPAFC 

Doc. 1669 

Appendix 5 

This form is to be used by CSRS or ENFO when requesting funds from F&A 

Date: May 18, 2016 

Project requests for NPAFC funds must fall within the mandate of Commission activities and highlight 

expected benefits, if funded. These funds are not expected to subsidize or offset budgets for the normal 

operations of each Party. Approved projects must improve understanding of the biology or promote the 

sustainability or protection of Pacific salmon. Projects must be completed within specific timeframes and 

not be funded on an ongoing basis. Approval requires a consensus of all Parties. 

Requesting Committee: CSRS 

Title of Request: Ongoing reserve fund request for annual travel to other international organizations. 

Relevance to committee's Terms of Reference, Science Plan, etc: 

Cooperation with other relevant international organizations is a part of the Convention (Article IX 9.), 

“The Commission shall have authority to: cooperate, as appropriate, with relevant 

international organizations, inter alia, to obtain the best available information, including 

scientific advice, to further the attainment of the objectives of this Convention.” 

In addition, cooperation with other international organizations is a stated responsibility of NPAFC 

supported by CSRS ToR 14. 

An invitation to a representative of CSRS/NPAFC by other relevant organizations, such as PICES, 

NASCO, or NPFC to participate annually as an observer at their meetings is a critical component of 

cooperation of NPAFC with those other organizations. If the representative of CSRS does not have the 

funds to make the trip on their own, this fund will be used to provide travel support for participation at the 

meeting of the other international organizations. This fund is intended to be used by the CSRS 

Chairperson, Chairperson of the relevant working group, or their designate, as determined by discussion 

between the CSRS Chairperson and the Executive Director. 

Amount requested each year: CDN $13,000 

If there is a surplus of the amount at the end of the year, the unused amount will be carried over to the 

following fiscal year to be reserved as part of CDN $13,000. This is not intended to be an annual funding 

request, but a request to be a part of the ongoing annual budget each year. 

An example of the list of meetings in fiscal year 2016/2017: 

- PICES-Annual Meeting (November 1 – 13, 2016, San Diego, USA) 

Estimated total for airfare, hotel, per diem, ground travel, registration: $ 7,500 

- NASCO Annual Meeting (June 7 – 10, 2017, UK) 

Estimated total for airfare, hotel, per diem, ground travel: $ 2,500 

- NPFC Science Committee Meeting (April 25 – 27, 2017, Tokyo) 

Estimated total for airfare, hotel, per diem, ground travel: .. $ 3,000 

1669(App.5).....14 



Date(s) of Expenditure: Fiscal Year 2016–2017 and each year thereafter 

Expected benefits to the Commission: Increased exposure of NPAFC activities and interaction with 

these organizations at their invitation will bring increased cooperation and collaboration with other 

relevant international organizations. This will increase effectiveness in the stated NPAFC goal of 

cooperation with other relevant international organizations and increase attainment of the goals of the 

Convention. 

Supplementary Information (abstract, project organization, timeframe, etc): 

To be completed by F&A: 

If accepted, funds will be charged to: 

Working Capital Funds C$ 13,000 

SFSR Funds C$______________ 

General Funds C$______________ 

Others 

C$______________ 

 

---------- 

1669(App.5).....15 


Appendix 7. i (1/2) 

North Pacific Anadromous 

Fish Commission 

NPAFC 

Doc. 1671 

Appendix 1-i 

24 th Annual Meeting – 2016 

Busan, Republic of Korea 

2016 May 16-20 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

NORTH PACIFIC ANADROMOUS FISH COMMISSION HOLDS 24 TH ANNUAL MEETING 

Busan, Republic of Korea (May 20, 2016)–The 24 th Annual Meeting of the North Pacific Anadromous 

Fish Commission (NPAFC) was held from May 16 to 20, 2016, in Busan, Republic of Korea. 

The NPAFC is an international organization that promotes the conservation of Pacific salmon and 

steelhead in the North Pacific and its adjacent seas. It serves as a venue for cooperation in and 

coordination of enforcement activities and scientific research. The vast majority of salmon catches in the 

North Pacific originate from NPAFC member countries, which are Canada, Japan, the Republic of Korea, 

the Russian Federation, and the United States. 

At the Commission’s Annual Meeting, Plenary Sessions and the Commission’s three standing 

committees, Enforcement, Scientific Research and Statistics, and Finance and Administration, were 

convened to discuss issues related to salmon and steelhead in the NPAFC Convention Area, which is the 

high seas of the North Pacific. 

This year the Commission presented Ms. Wakako Morris, retired Administrative Officer of the NPAFC, 

with the 2016 NPAFC Award. This award was given to Ms. Morris in recognition of her career-long 

support of the Commission’s operations. She is acknowledged for her tireless dedication to increasing 

effective information sharing and coordinating efforts among NPAFC’s fisheries enforcement agencies to 

detect illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing in the Convention Area. Through her efforts and 

leadership, Ms. Morris has significantly advanced international cooperation among the member nations of 

the Commission. 

At the Commission’s enforcement meetings, multilateral cooperative enforcement operations and regular 

information exchanges between NPAFC-member enforcement agencies were reviewed. Patrols by 

Canadian and United States fisheries enforcement aircraft from airports in Japan helped maximize the 

operational effectiveness. In a bilateral arrangement, the USCG hosted People’s Republic of China Coast 

Guard law enforcement officers aboard the USCG cutter to further increase the effectiveness of ship 

patrols. 

These combined multilateral efforts resulted in no high seas driftnet or IUU fishing activities observed by 

enforcement agencies of NPAFC member countries in 2015. The coordinated enforcement work of 

member countries in 2015 resulted in patrolling substantial portions of the NPAFC Convention area and 

involved over 400 hours of aircraft flights and more than 100 ship days. In excess of 500 fishing vessels 

were sighted and none were detected conducting illegal fishing activities. Inspection of several 

transhipment vessels did not indicate retention of salmon captured on the high seas. This confirms that 

high level coordination, patrol, and inspection efforts act as strong deterrents to IUU fishing. 

At the Commission’s scientific meetings, leading salmon researchers from member countries reviewed 

commercial catch statistics compiled from information provided by each of the member nations. 

Preliminary 2015 North Pacific-wide salmon catches were 1.04 million metric tonnes (507 million fish). 

1671(App.1-i)…..4 


Appendix 7. i (2/2) 

Pink salmon constituted the majority of the total commercial catch (44% by weight) followed by chum 

(34%) and sockeye salmon (18%). Coho comprised 3% of the catch, Chinook salmon was 1%, and each 

of cherry salmon and steelhead trout were < 1% of the catch by weight. 

In 2016, salmon research surveys are planned to take place in the Gulf of Alaska, the Bering Sea, the 

northwestern and central North Pacific, and the southern Sea of Okhotsk. Researchers will be examining 

conditions such as species abundance, migration, and distribution of salmon at sea. 

Preparation for the International Year of the Salmon (IYS) continued at this year’s meeting. The IYS is 

an intensive burst of internationally coordinated scientific research focused on understanding the impacts 

of climate change on salmon in both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Their initiative represents a unique 

opportunity for countries to conduct joint surveys to better understand the factors affecting salmon 

distribution and abundance on the high seas. Upon completion of the IYS, researchers will be equipped 

with new techniques and analytical methods to better evaluate environmental challenges facing salmon 

and their refine strategies to mitigate these impacts to ensure healthy wild salmon stocks throughout their 

range. 

The 2016–2020 NPAFC Science Plan was approved at the Annual Meeting. This Plan recognizes it is 

now more important than ever before to promote new cooperative international research that provides 

better scientific information on the ecological mechanisms regulating the distribution and abundance of 

anadromous populations and climate impacts in North Pacific marine ecosystems. The primary goal of 

the Science Plan is to understand variations in Pacific salmon productivity in a changing climate—a goal 

in complete alignment with the IYS program. 

Approaches to cooperative research under the Science Plan includes the collection and synthesis of 

existing data to generate and test hypotheses, integration of ecological monitoring programs in the ocean 

using research vessels and/or remote sensing, modeling, field and laboratory studies, and retrospective 

analyses. Scientific results from cooperative studies will progressively reduce major gaps in knowledge 

with respect to understanding variations in Pacific salmon productivity in a changing climate, as well as 

make significant contributions to the IYS initiative in collaboration with other international organizations. 

New scientific information will also contribute to effective coordinated enforcement activities by NPAFC 

member nations in protecting Pacific salmon from IUU fishing in the Convention Area. 

The five-day NPAFC Annual Meeting closed with an invitation from the Canadian Party to host the 2017 

Annual Meeting in Victoria, British Columbia. This meeting will coincide with the Commission’s 25 th 

Anniversary. 

Contact: Vladimir Radchenko 

NPAFC Executive Director 

Phone: +1-604-775-5550 

Email: secretariat@npafc.org 

Website www.npafc.org 

About NPAFC 

-END- 

The NPAFC is an international organization that promotes the conservation of salmon (chum, coho, pink, 

sockeye, Chinook, and cherry salmon) and steelhead trout in the North Pacific and its adjacent seas, and 

serves as a venue for cooperation in and coordination of scientific research and enforcement activities. 

The NPAFC Convention Area is located in international waters north of 33°N latitude in the North 

Pacific, Bering Sea and the Sea of Okhotsk. NPAFC member countries include Canada, Japan, Republic 

of Korea, Russian Federation, and United States of America. 

--------------- 

1671(App.1-i)…..5 


Appendix 7. ii (1/2) 



NPAFC 

Doc. 1671 

Appendix 1-ii 





INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATION WORKS TO OPPOSE IUU FISHING 

IN THE NORTH PACIFIC 

Busan, Republic of Korea (May 20, 2016)–Fisheries enforcement agencies of the North Pacific 

Anadromous Fish Commission (NPAFC) member countries (Canada, Japan, Korea, Russia, and United 

States) reported on successful 2015 efforts in combating IUU (illegal, unreported, and unregulated) 

fishing on the high seas of the North Pacific at the Commission’s Annual Meeting. Commitment to 

monitoring compliance with both the NPAFC Convention that bans directed fishing for salmon in the 

North Pacific and enforcing the UN Moratorium on large scale driftnet fishing, a fishing method 

historically used to capture salmon and other species in the North Pacific, are important missions of the 

fisheries enforcement agencies of NPAFC member countries. 

IUU fishing continues to threaten the conservation and sustainability of North Pacific salmon resources. 

NPAFC member countries have developed a well-coordinated surveillance and enforcement regime and 

work hard to reduce and eliminate this threat. This high level of coordination is epitomized by the 

exchange of information and the presence of personnel participating aboard one another’s patrol 

platforms. 

Patrols by Canadian and United States fisheries enforcement aircraft from air facilities in Japan help 

maximize patrol duration and range. Facilitated coordination was achieved between Canadian flights and 

United States Coast Guard (USCG) patrol vessels. USCG observer was aboard to support coordination 

with surface ship patrols. In a bilateral arrangement, the USCG hosted People’s Republic of China Coast 

Guard law enforcement officers aboard the USCG cutter to further increase effectiveness of ship patrols. 

The combined multilateral efforts by enforcement agencies of NPAFC member countries resulted in no 

observed high seas driftnet or IUU fishing activities in 2015. The coordinated enforcement efforts of the 

member countries in 2015 covered significant portions of the NPAFC Convention Area, including over 

400 hours of aircraft patrols and exceeding 100 ship days. Over 500 fishing vessels were sighted and 

none were detected conducting illegal fishing activities. Inspection of several transhipment vessels did 

not indicate retention of salmon captured on the high seas. This confirms that a high level of coordination 

and patrol and inspection effort acts as a strong deterrent to IUU fishing. 

Status of acceptance of the FAO Port State Measures Agreement was also discussed. This international 

agreement is designed to harmonize and strengthen controls by preventing fish caught illegally from 

entering into the global marketplace. The treaty will enter into force 30 days after the last of 25 nations 

on June 5, 2016, ratify, accept, or approve it. Currently, 30 members have formally deposited their 

instruments of adherence. Effective and consistent application of this Agreement by nations will add a 

new level of deterrent by decreasing the profitability of illegal transhipping of fish at sea and in port. 

Ongoing efforts to curtail the large-scale high seas driftnet threat by continuing a constant vigilance at sea 

and in port is crucial for sustainable fisheries management and the conservation of salmon in the North 

Pacific. Multilateral enforcement operations coordinated in the NPAFC arena, regular information 

1671(App.1-ii)…..6 


Appendix 7. ii (2/2) 

exchanges between NPAFC-member enforcement agencies, and a consistent enforcement presence in the 

North Pacific all act as effective deterrents against IUU fishing activities. 



Phone: +1-604-775-5550 



-END- 

About NPAFC 






of Korea, Russian Federation, and the United States of America. 

The NPAFC Convention Area is located in international waters north of 33°N in the 

North Pacific, Bering Sea and the Sea of Okhotsk. 

Map credit: modified from © FAO 2016 Regional Fishery Bodies Map, 

www.fao.org/fishery/rfb/npafc. March 11, 2016. 

------------ 

1671(App.1-ii)…..7 


Appendix 7. iii (1/2) 



NPAFC 

Doc. 1671 

Appendix 1-iii 





HIGH SEAS PACIFIC SALMON RESEARCH REVIEWED AT NPAFC ANNUAL MEETING 

Busan, Republic of Korea (May 20, 2016)–International scientific experts of the North Pacific 

Anadromous Fish Commission (NPAFC) member countries (Canada, Japan, Korea, Russia, and United 

States) completed a five day meeting in Busan, Korea, to review current information related to salmon 

abundance and biology at the Commission’s 24 th Annual Meeting. 

In addition to presenting salmon catch and hatchery statistics, scientists from NPAFC member countries 

planned, reviewed, and coordinated exchanges of scientific data and samples, and assessed scientific 

studies of Pacific salmon and steelhead in international waters and adjacent areas of the North Pacific. 

Salmon research cruise plans for 2016 were discussed. These will include salmon surveys in the Gulf of 

Alaska, the Bering Sea, the northwestern and central North Pacific, and the southern Okhotsk Sea. 

Research cruises will employ survey vessels from a variety of sources including government, university, 

and chartered fishing boats. Research survey objectives vary by season and location, and include datagathering 

on topics such as, migration timing, abundance, distribution, survival, marine ecology, run size 

forecasting, stock identification, and salmon growth and body condition. 

Exploring the value of using time series data based on biophysical monitoring along salmon migration 

corridors, investigators reported on techniques for improving a prediction model for forecasting the 

Southeast Alaska pink salmon harvest. In part, these model improvements are based on juvenile pink 

salmon abundance and body condition, predator abundance, zooplankton abundance, and local and basinscale 

physical conditions. 

Another study examined survival rates for British Columbia sockeye salmon smolts and compared this 

data with sea surface temperature and ocean productivity indices. Higher smolt survival was associated 

with warmer sea surface temperatures located off the west coast of Vancouver Island and colder sea 

temperatures on the north coast of British Columbia. However, these correlations were weak and 

additional effort might be directed at developing phenological indices of variability in factors that 

potentially affect the seasonal timing of biological production. 

Results from several salmon stock composition studies were reported. Stock composition of immature 

sockeye salmon caught in the summer in the central Bering Sea were determined to be almost all Alaskan 

fish (mostly originating from Bristol Bay) with small contributions of fish originating from British 

Columbia and Russia (non-Alaska less than 10%). Juvenile chum salmon caught in the Bering Sea and 

Chukchi Sea in late summer/fall originated from western Alaska. Studies of ocean distribution of salmon 

at different life history stages contribute to the knowledge of salmon ocean migration routes. 

Investigators on salmon research surveys in the central Bering Sea observed that the total numbers of 

chum salmon captured by trawl in 2015 was similar to that in 2014, however, lower than that of 

1671(App.1-iii)…..8 


Appendix 7. iii (2/2) 

2007–2013. They also observed that the summer seawater temperature in the Bering Sea increased over 

the past eight years. 

Scientific investigators reported on techniques for improving estimates of the abundance of hatchery and 

wild salmon across the Pacific Rim with the goal of making this information available for improved 

salmon management. Estimates were reported for pink, chum, and sockeye salmon in major regions of 

the North Pacific from 1952 through 2015 in terms of total returns (i.e., catch plus escapement) of 

natural- and hatchery-origin salmon. Results suggest the proportion of hatchery-origin chum salmon 

abundance peaked in the late 1990’s at approximately 70%, and is currently about half that percentage. 

Hatchery-origin pink salmon currently comprise about 19% of the returns and hatchery-origin sockeye 

salmon constitute about 4% of total returns. Total adult biomass exceeded 5 million metric tonnes in 

2009 and again in 2013 when biomass of immature salmon was included. Regional experts were 

encouraged to examine these results to find if estimates can be more finely tuned. 

This year, the previous 5-year science plan elapsed and a new 5-year plan has been adopted. Looking 

ahead, scientists agreed there is a compelling need for new international cooperative research that 

provides better scientific information on the ecological mechanisms regulating the production of 

anadromous populations, climate impacts on salmon populations in North Pacific marine ecosystems, and 

the utility of using salmon as indicators of North Pacific marine ecosystem conditions. 

Improved understanding of the mechanisms regulating the distribution and abundance of Pacific salmon 

and steelhead trout will promote the conservation of anadromous populations in the North Pacific Ocean, 

and it will also allow for better forecasts of salmon production trends in the future, enhance sustainable 

fisheries management, improve food security, and advance economic security in member nations. 



Phone: +1-604-775-5550 



-END- 

About NPAFC 







------------ 

1671(App.1-iii)…..9 


Appendix 7. iv (1/5) 



NPAFC 

Doc. 1671 

Appendix 1-iv 





2015 NORTH PACIFIC SALMON HARVEST UP 20% OVER 2014 

Busan, Republic of Korea (May 20, 2016)–The North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission (NPAFC) 

announced preliminary North Pacific-wide total salmon catches for 2015, as reported by its member 

countries (Canada, Japan, Korea, Russia, and United States). A total of 1.04 million metric tonnes (507 

million fish) was caught in 2015. This represents a 20% increase over the 2014 harvest. 

The member nations’ portions of the total catch included 50% by the United States (514.6 thousand 

metric tonnes; Alaska—503.0 thousand metric tonnes), 35% by Russia (368.6 thousand metric tonnes), 

13% by Japan (137.6 thousand metric tonnes), 2% by Canada (17.5 thousand metric tonnes), and less than 

1% by Korea (488 metric tonnes). 

Pink salmon constituted the majority of the total commercial catch (44% by weight) followed by chum 

(34%) and sockeye salmon (18%). Coho comprised 3% of the catch, Chinook salmon was 1%, and each 

of cherry salmon and steelhead trout were < 1% of the catch by weight. 

The total pink salmon catch was 461.6 thousand metric tonnes, with the majority caught by United States; 

mostly in Alaska (63% of the total) and Russia (35% of the total by weight). The total pink salmon catch 

is an increase of approximately 50% over 2014. The 2015 catch represented a return of dominant oddnumbered 

year pink salmon. 

The total catch of chum salmon was 355.9 thousand metric tonnes, and the largest portion of the catch 

was shared by Russia (40%) and Japan (38% of the total by weight). The 2015 total chum salmon catch 

represents a 4% increase in the catch from 2014. 

The total sockeye salmon catch was 182.5 thousand metric tonnes, mostly in Alaska (73%) and Russia 

(26% of the total by weight). The 2015 total sockeye catch shows a small increase of roughly 4% over 

the sockeye salmon harvest in 2014. 

Hatchery releases of salmon and steelhead from NPAFC member countries totaled approximately 5.2 billion 

fish in 2015. Hatcheries released 1,942 million fish (38% of the total) in the United States, 1,874 million 

(36%) in Japan, 1,023 million (20%) in Russia, 295 million (6%) in Canada, and 28 million (< 1%) in 

Korea. 

Hatchery releases were mostly chum (3,203 million, 62%) and pink salmon (1,365 million, 26%), followed 

by sockeye (268 million, 5%), Chinook (224 million, 4%), and coho salmon (72 million, 1%), steelhead 

trout (21 million, less than 1%), and cherry salmon (9 million, less than 1%) 

1671(App.1-iv)…..10 



Table 1. Preliminary 2015 commercial salmon catches in Canada, Japan, Korea, Russia, and the United States. 

Commercial catches by foreign fleets in the Russian EEZ are not included. Japanese catch data are based 

on Fisheries Research Agency data sources, not official statistics. Commercial catch weight for Alaska is 

based on landed weight (Alaska Department of Fish and Game). 

(a) Preliminary 2015 commercial catch in millions of fish. 


Canada 1.215 1.437 2.292 0.298 0.188 - - 5.432 

Japan 0.000 1.868 39.707 0.008 0.002 - 0.000 41.585 

Korea - - 0.155 - - - - 0.156 

Russia 18.195 118.272 46.515 4.725 0.159 0.005 - 187.872 

USA 54.868 191.623 19.527 4.024 1.655 - 0.062 271.759 

Alaska 54.756 190.721 18.397 3.892 0.547 - 0.000 268.312 

WOC 0.112 0.902 1.130 0.132 1.109 - 0.062 3.447 

Total 74.278 313.200 108.197 9.055 2.004 0.005 0.063 506.804 


(b) Preliminary 2015 commercial catch in metric tonnes (round weight). 


Canada 2,686 2,247 10,674 784 1,154 - - 17,545 

Japan 2 3,348 133,660 22 10 571


Figure 1. North Pacific commercial catch (thousands of metric tonnes) of Pacific salmon by species from 

1925 to 2015 (2015 catches are preliminary). 

Figure 2. Asian commercial catch (thousands of metric tonnes) of Pacific salmon by species from 1925 to 

2015 (2015 catches are preliminary). 

1671(App.1-iv)…..12 



Figure 3. North American commercial catch (thousands of metric tonnes) of Pacific salmon by species 

from 1925 to 2015 (2015 catches are preliminary). 

Figure 4. Annual North Pacific hatchery releases (millions of fish) of Pacific salmon by member 

countries from 1952 to 2015. 

-END- 

1671(App.1-iv)…..13 





Phone: +1-604-775-5550 



About NPAFC 

The NPAFC is an international organization that promotes the conservation of Pacific salmon (chum, 

coho, pink, sockeye, Chinook, and cherry salmon) and steelhead trout in the North Pacific and its adjacent 

seas, and serves as a venue for cooperation in and coordination of scientific research and enforcement 

activities. The NPAFC Convention Area is located in international waters north of 33°N latitude in the 

North Pacific, Bering Sea and the Sea of Okhotsk. NPAFC member countries include Canada, Japan, 

Republic of Korea, Russian Federation, and United States of America. 

--------------- 

1671(App.1-iv)…..14 


Appendix 7. v (1/2) 



NPAFC 

Doc. 1671 

Appendix 1-v 





NPAFC INTERNATIONAL AWARD FOR SALMON AND STEELHEAD CONSERVATION 

PRESENTED TO MS. WAKAKO MORRIS 

Busan, Republic of Korea (May 20, 2016)–Ms. Wakako Morris, retired Administrative Officer of the 

North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission (NPAFC), received the 2016 NPAFC Award at the 

Commission’s 24 th Annual Meeting. Ms. Morris was selected for the award in recognition of her support 

for the Commission’s operations and her steadfast efforts and leadership contributing to significant 

advances in international cooperation among the member nations of the Commission. 

Ms. Morris had been with the NPAFC Secretariat since the Commission’s establishment in 1993 until her 

retirement in 2016. Prior to that, she worked at the International North Pacific Fisheries Commission 

(INPFC) Secretariat since 1986 and was instrumental in transitioning between the INPFC to 

establishment of NPAFC. 

“It has been honour enough to have been a part of such a respected intergovernmental organization as the 

NPAFC let alone finishing my career with such an honoured award,” Ms. Morris said upon receiving the 

award. “I thank the Commission and those who nominated and granted me this award. It is very 

meaningful to me to be recognized in this way.” 

In addition to her leadership role in finance and administration, Ms. Morris is recognized for her tireless 

dedication to increasing effective information sharing among NPAFC-member countries by coordinating 

efforts of NPAFC’s fisheries enforcement among countries in order to detect IUU fishing in the NPAFC 

Convention Area. 

Established in 2011, the NPAFC Award is given to recognize an individual or group whose sustained and 

significant contributions in scientific research, enforcement, international cooperation, or management 

have helped improve the conservation of anadromous salmon and steelhead stocks in the North Pacific 

Ocean. 

1671(App.1-v)…..15 


Appendix 7. v (2/2) 

Ms. Wakako Morris is the recipient of the 2016 NPAFC Award. 



Phone: +1-604-775-5550 



-END- 

About NPAFC 





Pacific, Bering Sea, and the Sea of Okhotsk. NPAFC member countries include Canada, Japan, Republic 


------------ 

1671(App.1-v)…..16 




X. List of 2016 Documents 


X. List of 2016 Documents 

Note: Click on the Doc. # to view. 

Doc. # Origin Title Author Organization Date 

1617 USA Annual Survey of Juvenile Salmon, Ecologically-Related 

Species, and Biophysical Factors in the Marine Waters of 

Southeastern Alaska, May-August 2014 

J. Orsi 

E. Fergusson 

ABL, AFSC, 

Juneau 

Dec 2015 

1618 USA Forecasting Pink Salmon Harvest in Southeast Alaska 

from Juvenile Salmon Abundance and Associated 

Biophysical Parameters: 2014 Returns and 2015 Forecast 

1624 Russia Biostatistical Information on Salmon Catches, 

Escapement and Enhancement Production in Russia in 

2015 

A. Wertheimer 

J. Orsi 

E. Fergusson 

N. Klovach 

O. Temnykh 

V. Shevlyakov 

E. Golub 

A. 

Kanzeparova 

E. Shevlyakov 

L. Romasenko 

V. Volobuev 

ABL, AFSC, 

Juneau 

VNIRO 

TINRO-Center 

KamchatNIRO 

SakhNIRO 

MagadanNIRO 

Dec 2015 

Mar 2016 

1625 USA Proposed Thermal Marks for Brood Year 2016 Salmon in D. Oxman ADF&G, Juneau Mar 2016 

Alaska 

1626 USA Releases of Otolith Marked Salmon from Alaska in 2015 D. Oxman ADF&G, Juneau Mar 2016 

1627 Canada Microsatellite Identification of Sockeye Salmon Rearing in 

the Bering Sea During Summer 2015 

1628 Japan Cruise Plans of Japanese Research Vessels Involving 

Incidental Takes of Anadromous Fishes in the North 

Pacific Ocean in 2016 

1629 (Rev.1) Japan Proposed Cruise Plans of Japanese Research Vessels for 

Salmon in the North Pacific Ocean in 2016 

1630 Russia Marked Salmon Production by the Hatcheries of Russia 

in 2015 

1631 Russia Proposed Otolith Marks for Brood Year 2016 Salmon in 

Russia 

1632 (Rev.1) Canada Proposed Thermal Marks for Salmon from Canada, Brood 

Year 2016 

1633 USA Stock Estimates of Juvenile Chum Salmon Captured on 

the 2013 Bering Sea and Chukchi Sea Research Survey 

1634 Japan Incidental Catches of Anadromous Fishes by Japanese 

Research Vessels in the North Pacific Ocean in 2015 

D. Beacham 

C. Wallace 

S. Sato 

S. Urawa 

K. Suzuki 

S. Sato 

S. Urawa 

T. Nagasawa 

E. Akinicheva 

V. Volobuev 

E. Fomin 

M. Myakishev 

E. Akinicheva 

V. Volobuev 

E. Fomin 

M. Myakishev 

S. DiNovo 

W. Luedke 

C. Kondzela 

J. Whittle 

C. Guthrie III 

J. Guyon 

S. Urawa 

T. Nagasawa 

DFO, Nanaimo 

FRA, Sapporo 

Mar 2016 

FRA, Yokohama Apr 2016 

FRA, Sapporo Apr 2016 

SakhNIRO 

MagadanNIRO 

SBD, FCWBR 

SakhNIRO 

MagadanNIRO 

SBD, FCWBR 

Apr 2016 


DFO, Nanaimo Apr 2016 

ABL, AFSC, 

Juneau 





1635 Japan Results of 2015 Salmon Research by the Oshoro maru T. Iida 

HU Apr 2016 

K. Sakaoka 

Y. Kajiwara 

N. Hoshi 

M. Ohwada 

K. Imai 

S. Takagi 

1636 Japan Preliminary Statistics for 2015 Commercial Salmon 

Catches in Japan 

Y. Hirabayashi 

T. Saito 

T. Nagasawa 


1637 Japan Preliminary 2015 Salmon Enhancement Production in 

Japan 

1638 Japan Releases of Otolith Marked Salmon from Japan Between 

the Fall of 2014 and Spring of 2015 

1639 (Rev.1) Japan Proposed Otolith Marks for Brood Year 2016 Salmon in 

Japan 

1640 Japan The Summer 2015 Japanese Salmon Research Cruise of 

the R/V Hokko maru 

1641 USA Southeast Alaska Coastal Monitoring (SECM) Survey Plan 

for 2016 

1642 USA United States Cruise Plan for the Gulf of Alaska 

Assessment Survey for 2016 

1643 USA United States Cruise Plan for Northern Bering Sea Surface 

Trawl Surveys, August - September 2016 

1644 Russia Trawl Survey Plans for Pacific Salmon Marine Life Period 

Studies in the Far Eastern Seas in Summer and Fall 2016 

by Russia 

1645 Russia Russian Bibliography of 2015 Publications Linked to the 

Current NPAFC Science Plan 

1647 (Rev.1) USA High Seas Salmonid Coded-Wire Tag Recovery Data, 

2012, 2014-2015 

1648 Canada On the Relationship Between Survival of Chilko Lake 

Sockeye Salmon Smolts and Sea Surface Temperature and 

Satellite Derived Chlorophyll Concentrations 

H. Fukuzawa 

Y. Hirabayashi 

Y. Tomida 

S. Toda 

S. Urawa 

Y. Tomida 

S. Toda 

S. Urawa 

S. Sato 

K. Honda 

T. Sato 

M. Tomiyasu 

A. Seitz 

K. Suzuki 

J. Orsi 

A. Gray 

W. Strasburger 

E. Fergusson 

J. Moss 

W. Strasburger 

K. Cieciel 

E. Farley 

O. Temnykh 

A. Zavolokin 

V. Shevlyakov 

O. Temnykh 

S. Naydenko 

M. Koval 

N. Klovach 

V. Volobuev 

E. Akinicheva 

E. Golub 

V. Ostrovsky 

M. Masuda 

E. Fergusson 

J. Moss 

C. Debenham 

J. Orsi 

J. Murphy 

V. Tuttle 

T. Holland 

S. McKinnell 

J. Irvine 




FRA, Sapporo 

HU 

USAF 

ABL, AFSC, 

Juneau 



ABL, AFSC, Apr 2016 

Juneau 

ABL, AFSC, Apr 2016 

Juneau 

TINRO-Center Apr 2016 

TINRO-Center 

KamchatNIRO 

VNIRO 

MagadanNIRO 

SakhNIRO 

ChukotTINRO 

KhfTINRO 

ABL, AFSC, 

Juneau 

NMFS, Seattle 

SI 

DFO, Nanaimo 






1649 (Rev.3) Korea Korean Salmon Catch Statistics and Hatchery Releases in K. E. Hong FIRA, Yangyan Apr 2016 

2015-2016 

D. H. Lee 

J. K. Kim 

1650 (Rev.1) Korea Korean Research Plan for Salmon in 2016 K. E. Hong 

D. H. Lee 

J. K. Kim 

FIRA, Yangyan Apr 2016 

1651 (Rev.2) Korea Otolith Thermal Mark for Brood Year 2015 and Proposed 

Thermal Marks for Brood Year 2016 Chum Salmon in 

Korea 

1654 (Rev.1) Canada Canadian Salmon Catch and Enhanced Salmon 

Production in 2014 and 2015 with a Historical Overview of 

Recreational Steelhead Catches 

K. E. Hong 

D. H. Lee 

J. K. Kim 

S.M. Yoon 

A. Tompkins 

S. Hamilton 

J. Bateman 

J. Irvine 

1656 Canada Canadian Juvenile Salmon Surveys in 2016-2017 M. Thiess 

G. Neville 

M. Trudel 

1657 Secretariat Abstracts of Scientific Documents Submitted to the 

Commission for the 2016 CSRS Meeting 

1658 Canada 

Japan 

Korea 

Russia 

USA 

1659 Canada 

Japan 

Korea 

Russia 

USA 

1660 Canada/ 

USA 

1661 Canada 

Japan 

Korea 

Russia 

USA 

Report of the International Year of the Salmon 2016 

Scoping Workshop 

Recoveries of High Seas Tags and Tag Releases from High 

Seas Research Vessel Surveys in 2015 

Provisional Estimates of Numbers and Biomass for 

Natural-Origin and Hatchery-Origin Pink, Chum, and 

Sockeye Salmon in the North Pacific, 1952-2015 

Review of 2011-2015 NPAFC Science Plan: Forecast of 

Pacific Salmon Production in the Ocean Ecosystems 

Under Changing Climate 

1662 USA Incidental Catches of Salmonids by U.S. Groundfish 

Fisheries in the Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands and the Gulf of 

Alaska, 1990-2015 

1663 Canada 

Japan 

Korea 

Russia 

USA 

1665 Canada 

Japan 

Korea 

Russia 

USA 

Outline Proposal for an International Year of the Salmon 

(IYS) 'Salmon and People in a Changing World' 

North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission Science Plan 

2016-2020 

NPAFC IYS 

Working Group 

NPAFC 

Working Group 

on Salmon 

Tagging 

J. Irvine 

G. Ruggerone 

NPAFC 

Science Sub- 

Committee and 

Review Panels 

G. 

Schnaittacher 

R. Narita 

NPAFC IYS 

Working Group 

NPAFC 

Science Sub- 

Committee 

FIRA, Yangyan 

GRCFF, Uljin 




DFO, Nanaimo 

NRC, Seattle 



May 2016 



NMFS, Seattle May 2016

Annual Report 2016

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?