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Northern Atlantic fisheries have experienced a series of environmental shifts in recent decades, involving collapse or large fluctuationsof the dominant fish assemblages. Over roughly the same period, manyfisheries-dependent human communities have lost population, while their countries as a whole were growing. Population loss tends to increase with the degree of fisheries dependence, among communities and sub-national regions of Newfoundland, Iceland and Norway. A close look at Norway, where municipality-level data are most extensive, suggests that population declines reflect not only outmigration, but also changes in fishing-community birth rates. Multiple regression using 1990 and 1980 census data for 454 municipalities finds that fisheries dependence exerts a significant negative effect on population, even after controlling for six other predictors including unemployment and income. The general pattern of changes seen in northern Atlantic fishing communities resembles those identified by migration research elsewhere. Fishing communities are unusual among contemporary first-world societies, however, in that rapid and large-scale environmental shifts appear to be among the forces driving population change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most fisheries literature avoids speaking about ecosystem impacts offishing, either because impacts are not demonstrated or because a causal relationship between impacts and fishing cannot be formally established with the available information. However, there is mounting evidence that fishing has undesired effects in the marine ecosystems. This overview examines the wide ecosystem effects of fishing, describing and illustrating the potential unintended effects of the main fisheries of the world. An operational framework for classifying the effects of fishing in terms of the mechanisms generating the effects is provided. The focus and, to a large extent, the recourse to examples is on those fisheries for which the impacts of fishing have been best studied such as those in the North Atlantic and the Northeast Pacific. Ecosystem effects are divided into direct and indirect: direct effects include the fishing mortality exerted on target populations (overfishing), the fishing mortality sustained by non-target populations (bycatch), and the physical impacts caused by towed gears on benthic organisms and on the seabed. Indirect effects include impacts mediatedby biological interactions, the environmental effects of dumping discards and organic detritus (offal), and the mortality caused by lost gear (ghost fishing). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper describes the development of high-seas fisheries management in the north-east Atlantic, with reference to the north-east Atlantic Fisheries Commission (NEAFC) created in 1959. Three distinct phases are identified: the first, characterised by narrow coastal state jurisdiction and the establishment of regional commissions for high-seas fisheries; the second, by the extension of coastal state authority to 200 miles and the reduction in the scope for international management; and the third by the revival of international management following the UN Agreement in 1995. The implications for the past, present and future roles of' NEAFC are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 1976, the European Community has assumed responsibility for the development of fisheries policy within the EEZs of its member states. The success of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) has been diminished by two factors: the progressive enlargement of the common pond andthe precedence given to the political need for relative stability over the scientific imperative of resource conservation. Only a fundamental reform of the CFP by 2002 can hope to redeem the Community's fishing industry from the damaging effects of the politics of national self-interest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the fact that the North Atlantic remains one of the most productive of oceanic regions, its importance has declined both relatively and absolutely. A key factor has been the steady erosion of stocksof some of the major food fish species, including the ubiquitous cod. The paper traces the main trends in catches since 1973 and outlinesthe development of fisheries management in the region from the formation of ICES in 1902, through the creation of coastal state management in the 1970s to the UN Agreement on high-seas fishing in 1995. Finally, the key issues for fisheries management are identified, and the invited papers are contextualised. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides an overview of fisheries in Atlantic Canada and examines in detail the two most important and widespread sectors, groundfish and lobsters, highlighting initiatives undertaken in tile wake of the collapse of the groundfish stocks in the early 1990s. Two key features contributed to this collapse: over-reliance on quota management and an adversarial relationship between fishers and government.Among the new initiatives detailed in the paper are co-management, community quotas 'Conservation Harvesting Plans' and the Fisheries Resource Conservation Council. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Management of high-seas stocks in the north west Atlantic was placedunder the auspices of the North-west Atlantic Fisheries Organisation(NAFO) in 1979. Regulatory Area contains important straddling stocksand others that reside completely on the Flemish Cap. Despite a developed management strategy, by the mid-1990s, moratoria had been placed on most of the important and heavily depleted species on the Nose and Tail and the Flemish Cap. During the 1990s, the development of a more effective surveillance, monitoring and enforcement system has attempted to address weaknesses in NAFO's ability to enforce measures onits members and non-members alike. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A method of determining characteristic marine atmospheres was developed based on analysis of air mass types and occurrences. A 10-year set of radiosonde and surface observations collected over the North Atlantic Ocean from a combination of land-based stations, oceanographic buoys, and weather ships, was obtained from the archives of meteorological agencies from 6 different countries. Through a mixture of man--machine objective analysis of upper air measurements of air temperature at the 85, 70, and 50 kPa levels, a total of 16 typical air mass categories could be identified. They are cA, cA/cmA, cA/cmA/mA, cA:cmA, cmA, cmA/mA, cmA/mA/mP, cmA:mA, mA, mA/mP, mA/mP/mT, mP, mP/mT, mT(f), mT, and mT(d). Analysis of the data showed that regions of near air mass homogeneity can be identified. The frequency of occurrence ofsingle air mass categories coincided with their source regions, and the categories with combinations of air masses coincided with well known storm tracks. Vertical profiles of characteristic categories werethen developed and applied to the modelling of evaporative duct heights and calculations of precipitable water. These test results showedstrong dependence of derived parameters on the defining air mass category and compared well with data from other independent studies. Thevalue of this type of analysis has been demonstrated and results have been produced which can be used in downscaling studies whereby changes in the occurrence of regional weather elements may be found that are associated with variations in large-scale air mass features. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]