Transboundary Management Guidance Committee (TMGC) Overview
Joint Committees enhance coordination among fishery management partners concerning process-related issues, data needs, and stock assessments; or serve as mechanisms to facilitate management negotiations, such as the TMGC.
Several fish stocks on Georges Bank are transboundary and to be effectively managed require coordinated action between the U.S. and Canada. Since the international maritime boundary line between the two countries was drawn in 1984, both nations have worked closely to sustainably manage their shared resources, collaborate on stock assessments, and coordinate their research and enforcement efforts.
That coordination was formalized when the Transboundary Management Guidance Committee was established in 2000. Developed as an advisory process, the TMGC addresses how catches of transboundary stocks of Eastern Georges Bank cod, Eastern Georges Bank haddock, and Georges Bank yellowtail flounder should be allocated to each country within a defined geographic region. Council members, NOAA Fisheries representatives, and Canadian officials who serve on the TMGC negotiate the allocations annually based on the historic proportions of fishery landings caught by U.S. and Canadian fishermen, and resource distribution.