The Bahamas has had its status as a Cooperating Non-Contracting party to the North East Atlantic Fisheries Commission (NEAFC) renewed at NEAFC’s  39^th Annual General Meeting, which was held remotely from 10^th to 13^th November 2020.  NEAFC is the Regional Fisheries Management Organisation (RFMO) for the North East Atlantic where its objective is to ensure the long-term conservation and optimum utilisation of the fishery resources in the Convention Area.

The Bahamas’ achievement of continued NEAFC membership is beneficial for Bahamian flagged refrigerated cargo ships that wish to be authorised to engage in transhipment operations in the NEAFC regulatory area during 2021.  The Bahamas Maritime Authority (BMA) works collaboratively with the Bahamas Department of Marine Resources to ensure that all NEAFC’s measures are adopted and implemented.

The BMA looks forward to continuing to offer quality services to all affected ships and welcomes the opportunity to discuss these services with any stakeholder.

The Bahamas was represented at the NEAFC meeting by Gregory Bethel (Director of Bahamas Department of Marine Resources), Capt. Dwain Hutchinson (BMA Managing Director and CEO), Stephen Keenan (BMA Deputy Director) and Arie Durbazevs (BMA Technical & Compliance Officer).