Saving Seafood

United States Wins New Conservation Measures for Pacific Tuna and Backs Inspections to Curb Illegal Fishing

December 7, 2021 — Tropical tuna in the eastern Pacific Ocean gained renewed protections and science-based catch levels under resolutions advocated by the United States. They were adopted by the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission at its virtual meeting in October. The IATTC also established a framework for foreign fishing vessels to face spot inspections when they enter the port of another member nation.

The IATTC’s actions will help conserve and sustainably manage tuna and other highly migratory species that cross international boundaries. They also improve oversight of international fisheries to reduce illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing, a U.S. priority. The move furthers the effort to close the world’s ports to illegal fishing and give consumers additional confidence that their seafood is safe and sustainable.

“This is a critical step forward for the conservation of species that support important commercial fisheries and play a prominent role in the marine ecosystem,” said Ryan Wulff, who leads the U.S. delegation to the IATTC, and serves as Assistant Regional Administrator for Sustainable Fisheries for NOAA Fisheries’ West Coast Region. “We worked through challenging negotiations—all in a virtual setting. In the end, we achieved consensus on a number of important conservation and management measures for the eastern Pacific Ocean.”

Read the full story at NOAA Fisheries

 

IATTC approves Pacific bluefin tuna quota increase

October 27, 2021 — The Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC) has approved a higher catch limit for Pacific bluefin tuna.

Based on IATTC Scientific Committee projections that indicated a 100 percent chance of reaching an initial stock rebuilding target by 2024, the IATTC approved a 15 percent increase in the catch limit for adults (over 30 kilograms) and no change for juveniles. The decision was made at IATTC’s full commission meeting, which ran from 13 to 22 October.

Read the full story at SeafoodSource

 

RFMOs moving toward an increase in bluefin tuna TAC

October 21, 2021 — Regional fishery management organizations (RFMOs) that regulate Pacific bluefin tuna have moved closer to adopting a catch increase, based on an improved outlook for meeting stock recovery goals.

During its 5-7 October electronic meeting, the Northern Committee (NC) of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) approved, by consensus, the recommendation of the sixth Joint IATTC and WCPFC-NC Working Group Meeting on the Management of Pacific Bluefin Tuna (JWG06).

Read the full story at SeafoodSource

 

IATTC meeting defers decision on proposed bluefin harvest increase

September 8, 2021 — The regional fishery management organization that sets tuna harvest-limits in the Eastern Pacific Ocean once again deferred a decision on the Pacific bluefin harvest after failing to reach consensus on the details of a proposed increase.

At the 23 to 27 August meeting of the full commission of the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC) a proposal by the United States reflecting the recommendations of the online 27 to 29 July Sixth Joint Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission Northern Committee Working Group Meeting was taken up, but the parties didn’t reach a consensus agreement on specific details in the new language. As a result, the IATTC gave itself more time to negotiate the details before another full commission meeting in October 2021.

Read the full story at SeafoodSource

 

NGOs express disappointment after IATTC fails to advance tuna conservation measure

August 31, 2021 — A weeklong Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC) meeting, held to advance the commission’s protection of bigeye, yellowfin, and skipjack tuna stocks in the Eastern Pacific Ocean, has failed deliver any such conservation measure.

With the IATTC unable to reach consensus, discussions on the measure roll over to its next virtual meeting, scheduled to take place on 18 October.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

ISSF: Eastern Pacific Ocean tuna fisheries can’t wait for COVID to end before action is taken

August 23, 2021 — Eastern Pacific Ocean fisheries managers must ensure that effective management measures are promptly put in place for bigeye, yellowfin, and skipjack tuna stocks when the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC) meets later this month, insists the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF).

In 2020, the IATTC conducted new assessments of bigeye and yellowfin tuna, which found that while yellowfin remains healthy, there was a 53 percent probability that bigeye is overfished and a 50 percent probability that overfishing was occurring.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Technology Can Improve Safety and Security for Observers on Fishing Vessels

February 23, 2021 — The following was released by Pew Charitable Trusts:

The eastern Pacific Ocean is home to valuable tuna fisheries worth more than $5 billion each year.  These stocks are managed by the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC), which is responsible for ensuring the sustainable management of tunas and other marine species, as well as enforcing rules to end and prevent illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing.

Transshipment is a key part of the seafood supply chain in which catch is transferred from a fishing vessel to a carrier vessel that then takes it to port, but management of transshipment is rife with loopholes, and IUU-caught fish can easily slip through the cracks.

For years, onboard fisheries observers have been the primary source of independent information on at-sea activity, collecting data on catch, transshipment, and more, and reporting rules violations and potential IUU activity to domestic authorities and regional fisheries management organizations (RFMOs) such as IATTC. But serving as an onboard observer is a risky job, and the casualty rate on fishing vessels is notoriously high. Observers can be at sea for months at a time, often without quick access to medical care or assistance if they are in a threatening situation.

Last year, MRAG Americas, a fisheries-focused consultancy, with support from The Pew Charitable Trusts and the Walmart Foundation, deployed a new model of two-way satellite communications devices to several IATTC transshipment observers to improve real-time exchanges of information and, hopefully, help observers feel more secure onboard vessels.

Read the full release here

IATTC agrees to rollover tropical tuna quotas to 2021

December 22, 2020 — The Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC) agreed at a special session on 22 December to a rollover of its existing quotas for tropical tuna in the eastern Pacific for 2021.

The tropical tuna fishery – which includes bigeye, yellowfin, and skipjack tuna stocks – brings in billions of dollars’ worth of fish annually. At its annual meeting earlier this month, the commission failed to reach a consensus on the management of tropical tunas by one vote – with Colombia opposing the resolution – leaving tuna fisheries without any rules of governance starting on 1 January.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

ISSF Statement: IATTC Emergency Commission Meeting

December 22, 2020 — The following was released by the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation:

The action by IATTC at its emergency Commission meeting held on December 22 — a meeting and decision that ISSF and its stakeholders called for earlier this month — keeps crucial “status quo” fishing effort and catch limit provisions and active FAD limits in place for 2021. This decision ensures that the valuable tuna resources and the marine ecosystems of the Eastern Pacific Ocean (EPO) will not be unmanaged for 2021. And it gives the Commission an opportune period to develop and adopt new comprehensive tuna management measures for 2022, including science-based limits on FADs and floating objects (e.g., active numbers, sets, deployments, etc.), that fully implement scientific advice.

ISSF calls on IATTC parties to work collaboratively throughout next year to hold detailed, inclusive discussions that will lead to decisive and science-based action for the protection of EPO tuna stocks and their marine ecosystems. Regardless of meeting format in 2021, ISSF will pursue all opportunities to help guide IATTC and all tuna RFMOs, member governments, industry, vessels, FIPs and NGOs on the complex issues they must navigate for sustainable global tuna stocks and their ecosystems.

About the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation

The International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF) is a global coalition of scientists, the tuna industry and World Wildlife Fund (WWF) — the world’s leading conservation organization — promoting science-based initiatives for the long-term conservation and sustainable use of tuna stocks, reducing bycatch and promoting ecosystem health. Helping global tuna fisheries meet sustainability criteria to achieve the Marine Stewardship Council certification standard — without conditions — is ISSF’s ultimate objective. To learn more, visit iss-foundation.org  and follow ISSF on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and LinkedIn.

WCPFC secures consensus to continue tropical tuna measure

December 16, 2020 — The 27 members of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) have approved the rollover of the tropical tuna measure for bigeye, skipjack, and yellowfin tuna, which without a consensus would have expired in February 2021.

The move by the WCPFC is in contrast with the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC), which failed to reach a consensus on regulations, leaving the fishery unmanaged beginning 1 January, 2021. The renewal by the WCPFC is considered a victory, but the Pacific Islands Forum’s Fisheries Forum Agency (FFA) said much work remains left to be tackled at next year’s tuna commission.

Read the full story at Seafood Source