The North Atlantic Pelagic Advocacy Group, also known as NAPA, is a market-led approach to improve North Atlantic pelagic fisheries management.
NAPA was formed in response to the continuing dispute between Coastal States over mackerel quota allocation in the North East Atlantic. Over time, this dispute has resulted in annual catches well in excess of the advised level for three commercially important species: North East Atlantic mackerel (hereafter mackerel), Atlanto-Scandian (Norwegian Spring Spawning) herring (hereafter herring), and North East Atlantic blue whiting (hereafter blue whiting).
As a consequence of this overfishing, and the absence of a long-term management strategy, fisheries in each stock lost their Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certifications, no longer boasting the recognisable and trusted blue tick that consumers have become familiar with.
NAPA aims to drive sustainability in these fisheries by securing an agreement on total allowable catches (TACs) in line with the scientific advice, as well as long-term, science-based fisheries management strategies. These stocks are data-rich and well-understood, meaning that Coastal States simply need to collaborate and agree on sustainable quota shares to manage them sustainably.
The group is tackling these issues through the establishment of two Fishery Improvement Projects (FIPs) – one for mackerel and herring, and one for blue whiting. The FIPs serve to drive political will for sustainable management while holding key actors and decision-makers to account.
NAPA’s partners are a collective of more than 60 global retailers, food service companies, and suppliers, representing the majority of mackerel, herring, and blue whiting purchasing power in the North East Atlantic.
Our partners have the shared aim of sourcing sustainable and certified seafood to supply a growing demand for traceable, ecolabelled fish products. They have joined forces, using their collective commercial leverage, to drive sustainability into pelagic fisheries management in the North East Atlantic.
United by a common goal to secure robustly managed pelagic stocks, NAPA partners stand firmly together as the unified, global voice of the marketplace.
NAPA’s vision is to build a shared, global, and non-competitive solution to sustainability issues in North East Atlantic pelagic fisheries.
In realising this vision, retailers will be able to source ethical and sustainable pelagic seafood from fisheries in this region with confidence.
This confidence must be rooted in the knowledge that long-term, science-based management practices are in place, vocally supported by Coastal States’ decision-makers – meaning that supply is secure, and stocks will remain healthy into the future.