The North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organization (NASCO) is a specialised regional fishery management organisation established under the Convention for the Conservation of Salmon in the North Atlantic Ocean on 1 October 1983. NASCO's mission is to contribute through consultation and cooperation to the conservation, restoration, enhancement and rational management of salmon stocks with a 10 year plan to slow the decline of wild Atlantic Salmon. Its headquarters are in Edinburgh, United Kingdom. It was established due to the failure of independent states to protect a global common such as the salmon population in this case. It was argued that international cooperation was necessary to prevent unsustainable over-fishing. The NASCO has established a handful of regulations and guidelines regarding the fishing of salmon, for example, countries are only able to fish within 12 nautical miles of their territory, prohibiting fishing in most of the North Atlantic. Additionally, NASCO has recognized the increasing number of countries implementing catch-and-release practices and has brought light to the proper way to manage and catch-and-release scenario in order to reduce fishing mortality. NASO highlights the importance of keeping the fish in the water prior to release to avoid air exposure. There has been valuable evidence supporting increasing survival rates by following these guidelines. In 2020, the NASCO operates with a budget of 636 630 GBP, with a little over 583 000 GBP coming from the member states.

Membership

Current participants (since 1984): Canada, Denmark (in respect of the Faroe Islands and Greenland), the European Union, Norway, Russian Federation, and the United States of America. Former participants: The NASCO also has 44 NGOs from the different member states that have observational status during the annual meetings.

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Organizational organs

The secretariat currently has 5 full-time employees based at the Headquarters in Edinburgh, Scotland. In the council, each member state is represented and decisions are made based on a three quarter majority. The main tasks of the council include:

The Future of NASCO- A Ten-Year Plan

NASCO's Council has adopted a Ten-Year Plan to address the threat to Atlantic salmon and to restore what was once a healthy, thriving population. NASCO's has set a goal to focus on and promote efforts aimed at protecting, conserving, and restoring wild Atlantic salmon across the species' range. In order to achieve this ten-year goal, they have outlined the following five objectives:

Atlantic Salmon

Atlantic Salmon, often referred to as "King of Fish" are anadromous fish. This means they spend a portion of their life cycle in both the fresh and salt water. Adult salmon lay their eggs in freshwater rivers, after the eggs hatch they mature for 1-3 years before migrating to the ocean.

Wild Salmon vs. Farmed

As the international demand for salmon increase, salmon farming is growing rapidly in order to try and meet the needs of consumers. Salmon farming involves raising salmon in a wide net close to shore for the span of its life cycle. The average lifespan of salmon is typically three years. The salmon first begin in freshwater and are later transported to saltwater until they have matured enough to be sold. A study showed that 70% Atlantic salmon were produced through fish farming. Farmed salmon present a higher level of risk to contain toxins due to their controlled feed containing toxic particles. Some may argue that salmon farming is an eco-friendly form of protein production, however, the excess food waste produced from these farms disturbs aquatic life and can alter the biodiversity.