18/06/2026
The 5th Conference of the Parties of the Central Arctic Ocean Fisheries Agreement (CAOFA) took place this week in Brussels, Belgium and our General Secretary, Alan Haynie attended to represent ICES.
ICES has been an observer to CAOFA since 2022 and is pleased to continue this collaboration to advance understanding of this important and rapidly changing ecosystem.
CAOFA was signed in 2018 to prevent unregulated fishing in the high seas of the central Arctic Ocean before sufficient scientific knowledge is available to ensure any future fishing can be managed sustainably. Its goal is to protect the Central Arctic Ocean's marine ecosystems and ensure that fish populations remain healthy and sustainable for the future.
https://vlab.noaa.gov/web/caofa
Interested in knowing more about our collaborative work on the Central Arctic Ocean? Read about our Working Group on the Integrated Ecosystem Assessment of the Central Arctic Ocean (WGICA), a broad international collaboration that brings together scientists, knowledge, and results from ICES, PICES - North Pacific Marine Science Organization and the Arctic Council working group PAME https://www.ices.dk/news-and-events/news-archive/news/Pages/202511_CAOEO.aspx who recently published an integrated ecosystem assessment for the Central Arctic Ocean https://doi.org/10.17895/ices.pub.30540437, as well as an Ecosystem overview https://doi.org/10.17895/ices.advice.30465446.
📷CAOFA Scientific Coordinating Group Chair Hauke Flores, CAOFA COP Chairperson Nadia Bouffard, and ICES General Secretary Alan Haynie.