HALIFAX — Canada is trying to build international momentum to combat overfishing outside its territorial limits, federal Fisheries Minister Geoff Regan said Tuesday.

Regan was reacting to a World Wildlife Fund report that said protected fish stocks such as plaice, cod and flounder are being caught in international waters off Canada's East Coast.

"Seventy-five per cent of stocks internationally are either fully exploited or over-exploited," he said. "The international issue of overfishing is an enormous one."

The report, released Tuesday, said illegal fishing on the Grand Banks is increasingly being passed off as accidental bycatch - a process where fish are caught by gear intended for other species.

International fishing rules allow for a certain amount of bycatch, since most boats haul in many types of fish and other marine life while fishing for a particular species of fish.

A portion of the commercially valuable bycatch can be kept and sold, but the report says the bycatch makes up 80 per cent of the landed catch in some areas.

The report is critical of the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization, the body responsible for managing the stocks, saying it has done little to combat the problem.

In recent years Canada has also been critical of NAFO's effectiveness on overfishing, but Regan said that without an alternative it's better to work for reform from within the organization.

"We have seen some reform the last few years and we see international momentum, a global wave to see change in the way fisheries are managed," he said.

Regan expects to see results on dealing with the problem at a NAFO meeting later in the week in Talin, Estonia.

The report also blamed Canadian fishermen for contributing to the growing bycatch problem.

Regan warned that fishermen from any country who engage in overfishing are being irresponsible and aren't thinking of the future.

"From my experience with the vast majority of Canadian fishermen, they are very concerned about the future," he said. "They do want to fish responsibly and they act accordingly."