The North Atlantic Marine Mammal Commission (NAMMCO) is an "international body for co-operation on conservation, management and study of

marine mammal Marine mammals are aquatic mammals that rely on the ocean and other marine ecosystems for their existence. They include animals such as seals, whales, manatees, sea otters and polar bears. They are an informal group, unified only by their ...

s in the North Atlantic." The NAMMCO Agreement was signed in Nuuk, Greenland on 9 April 1992 by Norway, Iceland, Greenland, and the Faroe Islands, and entered into force 90 days later on 8 July 1992. The agreement focuses on modern approaches to the study of the marine ecosystem as a whole, and better understanding of marine mammals' role in this system. The body was founded in 1992 by its current members

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland i ...

, and the

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ), or simply the Faroes ( fo, Føroyar ; da, Færøerne ), are a North Atlantic island group and an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark. They are located north-northwest of Scotland, and about halfway bet ...

. The organization came about because the member nations were (and continue to be) dissatisfied with the international management of cetaceans and other marine mammals by the

International Whaling Commission The International Whaling Commission (IWC) is a specialised regional fishery management organisation, established under the terms of the 1946 International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling (ICRW) to "provide for the proper conservation ...

. NAMMCO believes that decisions regarding whaling should be based on scientific principles regarding management of whale populations. Through regional cooperation, the member nations of NAMMCO aim to strengthen and further develop effective conservation and management measures for marine mammals. Such measures should be based on the best available scientific evidence, and should take into account both the complexity and vulnerability of the marine ecosystem, and the rights and needs of coastal communities to make a sustainable living from what the sea can provide. The IWC currently has a moratorium in effect which prohibits all (large species) whaling with a few specific exceptions. Nations opposed to whaling, such as the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, do not recognize NAMMCO's claim to be the proper body for management of whale stocks in the North Atlantic, and continue to support the IWC.

History and structure

NAMMCO was founded in

Nuuk Nuuk (; da, Nuuk, formerly ) is the capital and largest city of Greenland, a constituent country of the Kingdom of Denmark. Nuuk is the seat of government and the country's largest cultural and economic centre. The major cities from other coun ...

on 9 April 1992 by the signatories to Agreement on Cooperation in Research, Conservation and Management of Marine Mammals in the North Atlantic. The Agreement came into force on 7 July 1992 and was itself the product of a Memorandum of Understanding signed in

Tromsø Tromsø (, , ; se, Romsa ; fkv, Tromssa; sv, Tromsö) is a municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Tromsø. Tromsø lies in Northern Norway. The municipality is the ...

in 1990 between the Norwegian and Icelandic governments and the Greenlandic and Faroese home rule governments. The purpose of the organization is set out in Article 2 of the agreement. The commission has three parts. The council is the decision-making part of the commission, which requests, and acts on, advice from its management committees, which make proposals for management of marine mammals stocks within the region, and from the scientific committee which reviews current scientific literature and carries out its own scientific research. The commission also hosts workshops and forums devoted to hunting methods and environmental questions.

References

NAMMCO homepage
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A regional approach to whaling: How the North Atlantic Marine Mammal Commission is shifting the tides for whale management
" Brettny Hardy, Duke University School of Law {{Authority control Fisheries agencies Marine mammals Organizations established in 1992 Intergovernmental organizations established by treaty Organisations based in Tromsø