North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission

What North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission does

The North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission (NPAFC) is an inter-governmental organization established by the Convention for the Conservation of Anadromous Stocks in the North Pacific Ocean. The Convention was signed on February 11, 1992, and took effect on February 16, 1993, succeeding the International North Pacific Fisheries Commission (INPFC). NPAFC's objective is to promote conservation of anadromous stocks (Pacific salmon and steelhead trout) in the Convention Area, which covers international waters north of 33° North beyond the 200-mile exclusive economic zones of the North Pacific Ocean, Gulf of Alaska, and Bering Sea. The Commission has five member countries: Canada, Japan, Republic of Korea, Russian Federation, and the United States of America, with the Secretariat headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, staffed by four personnel (Executive Director Yoshikiyo Kondo, Finance Officer Kazuyo Murakami, Administrative Officer Mariia Artiushkina, and IT/Data Officer William Stanbury).

Name

North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission

Legal name

North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission

Website

https://npafc.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1993

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission (NPAFC) is an inter-governmental organization founded in 1993 that promotes conservation of Pacific salmon and steelhead trout across the North Pacific Ocean Convention Area for its five member countries: Canada, Japan, Korea, Russia, and the United States.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

International Fisheries Conservation

NAICS

Administration of Environmental Quality Programs (924)

akta.pro primary industry

Oceans, Coastal & Marine Resource Management (BPADALAI)

akta.pro secondary industries

Aquatic Ecology & Fisheries Assessments (EUAHAHAB), Coastal & Marine Resources Administration (Oceans, Fisheries, Shorelines) (BPAIAMAI)

Keywords

• Salmon conservation
• International fisheries management
• Anadromous fish stocks
• Fisheries scientific research
• North Pacific fisheries

Headquarters

HQ city

Vancouver

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Member Country Contributions: NPAFC is funded through contributions from its five member countries (Canada, Japan, Republic of Korea, Russian Federation, and United States of America) based on the financial rules adopted by the Commission.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

NPAFC promotes the conservation of anadromous stocks (Pacific salmon and steelhead trout) in the Convention Area of the North Pacific Ocean through prohibition of directed fishing, coordinated scientific research and data sharing, joint enforcement, and stock assessment. It operates a portfolio of publicly accessible scientific databases (high-seas tag recovery, otolith marking, catch and hatchery statistics), interactive web applications for data visualization, and an international tag recovery program with reward incentives. Outputs are funded by member country contributions and made freely available to researchers and enforcement agencies.

Product overview

The North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission (NPAFC) operates as an inter-governmental organization focused on conservation of anadromous fish stocks (Pacific salmon and steelhead trout). Its product portfolio consists primarily of scientific data resources, databases, and interactive web applications for fisheries research and conservation. The core offerings include: (1) the High-Seas Salmonid Tag Recoveries & Expedition Application, an interactive ArcGIS-based mapping tool for visualizing tag data and IYS expedition data; (2) the INPFC/NPAFC High-Seas Salmonid Tag-Recovery Database, a publicly accessible database of tagging records; (3) HSSRP Data Storage Tag Data Files for research on salmon behavior; (4) Pacific Salmonid Catch and Hatchery Release Statistics with time-series data since 1925/1952; (5) the Pacific Salmon Data Legacy Database (PSDLD); (6) eDNA sampling protocols; (7) otolith marking resources via WGOSM; and (8) the High-Seas Tag Recovery Program with public reporting and rewards. These products support scientific research, stock assessment, and conservation efforts among the five member countries (Canada, Japan, Republic of Korea, Russian Federation, and USA).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• High-Seas Salmonid Tag Recoveries & Expedition Application Interactive web mapping application that allows researchers and the public to visualize and explore over 18,000 high-seas salmonid tag-recovery records and International Year of the Salmon (IYS) high seas expedition data, including Trawl, CTD, and Zooplankton layers combined with World Ocean Database layers. Targeted at fisheries researchers and member country agencies.
• INPFC/NPAFC High-Seas Salmonid Tag-Recovery Database Publicly accessible database of high-seas salmonid tag recoveries from INPFC and NPAFC research programs, containing records of release and recovery locations and biological characteristics of tagged fish. Available to researchers worldwide.
• HSSRP Data Storage Tag (DST) Data Files Downloadable dataset of 92 recovered DSTs (38 chum, 21 sockeye, 15 coho, 10 pink, 7 Chinook salmon, and one steelhead trout) with raw and modified data files, graphs, and metadata from the High Seas Salmon Research Program at the University of Washington. Provides behavioral and environmental data on individual salmon.
• NPAFC Pacific Salmonid Catch and Hatchery Release Statistics Downloadable time-series statistical data files containing commercial, sport, and subsistence catch statistics and hatchery release statistics from the five member countries since 1925/1952. Used by researchers and managers for stock assessment and trend analysis.
• Pacific Salmon Data Legacy Database (PSDLD) Legacy database of historical salmon data assembled for research and conservation purposes, preserving older datasets not represented in current reporting systems.
• eDNA Sampling Protocols Published open-access paper providing standardized environmental DNA (eDNA) sampling systems for salmon ecosystem monitoring, supporting research-grade detection of species presence.
• Otolith Marking Resource (WGOSM Website) Working Group on Salmon Marking website providing information on otolith marking techniques and database management for salmon stock identification, supporting traceability of hatchery-released fish.
• Pacific Salmon and Steelhead High-Seas Tag Recovery Program Public tag recovery program with reward incentives ($300 CDN per tag) for returning tags recovered from tagged Pacific salmon and steelhead. Coordinates with national contact points in each member country and feeds data into the High-Seas Salmonid Tag-Recovery Database.

Named customers5 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.

• ICES (International Council for the Exploration of the Sea)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024MOU signed in 2024 to promote conservation of anadromous stocks and consider matters related to ecologically related species in the Convention Area.
• NPFC (North Pacific Fish Commission)majorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2019Memorandum of Cooperation signed in 2019 for long-term conservation and sustainable use of fisheries resources in the North Pacific Convention Area.
• NASCO (North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organization)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2018Joint partners in the International Year of the Salmon (IYS) initiative, launched with focal year 2019 and activities continuing through 2022.
• WCPFC (Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission)majorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2010Memorandum of Cooperation signed in 2010 between NPAFC and WCPFC for conservation of highly migratory fish stocks and anadromous stocks.
• PICES (North Pacific Marine Science Organization)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 1998MOU signed in 1998 for scientific cooperation. The 2014 NPAFC-PICES Framework for Enhanced Scientific Cooperation formalized partnerships for joint research activities in the North Pacific Ocean.
• FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCooperative relationship with FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Department for international fisheries management coordination.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Pacific Salmon Commission (PSC): Treaty-based body managing Pacific salmon between the US and Canada under the Pacific Salmon Treaty. NPAFC's IT/Data Officer previously worked at PSC, and both organizations share salmon stock assessment responsibilities across the North Pacific.
• Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC): RFMO managing highly migratory fish stocks in the western and central Pacific. WCPFC holds an MOU with NPAFC (2010) for conservation of anadromous and highly migratory stocks, making it a structurally equivalent regional fisheries body.
• Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna (CCSBT): Small RFMO for southern bluefin tuna conservation. CCSBT is a structurally near-analog to NPAFC — both are lean treaty-based bodies focused on a single species group with limited membership and a strong data/statistics program.
• International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES): Intergovernmental marine science organization providing ecosystem and fisheries science for the North Atlantic. ICES signed a 2024 MOU with NPAFC for cross-basin cooperation on anadromous stocks, making it a direct scientific peer.
• International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT): RFMO managing tuna and tuna-like species in the Atlantic Ocean. ICCAT is a comparable RFMO with enforcement, statistical, and scientific committees — directly analogous to NPAFC's committee structure.
• Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC): RFMO managing tuna stocks in the Indian Ocean. IOTC and NPAFC share the same RFMO governance model (scientific committee, compliance committee, finance committee) and operate under member-state contributions.
• North Pacific Marine Science Organization (PICES): Inter-governmental scientific organization promoting marine research in the North Pacific. PICES has had a formal MOU with NPAFC since 1998 and a 2014 Framework for Enhanced Scientific Cooperation, making it a direct research-side peer.
• North Pacific Fisheries Commission (NPFC): Regional fisheries management organization for non-anadromous fish stocks in the North Pacific. NPFC shares geographic scope and member countries with NPAFC and is a formal MOU partner, making it the most direct governance-comparable peer.
• North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organization (NASCO): Inter-governmental organization dedicated to conserving Atlantic salmon stocks across the North Atlantic. NASCO is NPAFC's most direct functional analog — both are treaty-based salmon-specific conservation bodies operating in different oceans, and they co-lead the International Year of the Salmon initiative.
• Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC): RFMO responsible for tuna conservation and management in the eastern Pacific Ocean. IATTC is comparable to NPAFC in terms of regional fisheries body governance, scientific research functions, and ENFO-equivalent compliance activities.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/watch?v=C3JVBjh6gVI
• Facebookfacebook.com/61550947448498
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/npafc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission