Saving Seafood

NGOs push ICCAT to continue progress on management procedures, overfishing after recent meeting

December 5, 2024 — The International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) made progress on harvest strategies and its management of fish aggregating devices (FADs) in the Atlantic Ocean, while NGOs are pushing for it to continue that progress going forward.

At its recent meeting from 11 to 18 November, ICCAT adopted a new management procedure for Atlantic swordfish and Atlantic skipjack, adding to the commission’s existing strategy for Atlantic bluefin, drawing praise from organizations like The Pew Charitable Trusts and the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF).

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‘Momentous’ sustainable fishing rules adopted for Atlantic Ocean swordfish

November 26, 2024 — In the late 1990s, swordfish had been so overfished in the North Atlantic Ocean that its population faced the possibility of collapse. The dire situation sparked boycotts and conservation campaigns in honor of the highly migratory species, a predator that can move at nearly the speed of a cheetah and slash at prey with the long, flat bill that gives it its name. Managers set a quota and a minimum catch size to protect juveniles, the stock began to recover and it was declared rebuilt in 2013. And now, with a landmark move made Nov. 18, that recovery appears secure.

The International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), which manages a wide range of fish stocks across the entire Atlantic Ocean and adjacent seas, adopted a “harvest strategy” for swordfish (Xiphias gladius) during its annual meeting, held in Cyprus Nov. 11-18.

Government representatives and conservationists hailed the move, which sets up largely automatic science-based fisheries management decisions for the long term. The harvest strategy, which is designed to be resilient to climate change effects, had been in the works for years, but its adoption wasn’t guaranteed until the final gavel fell, with all parties in consensus.

“To get this across the finish line was a big success,” Esther Wozniak, an international fisheries manager at the Philadelphia-based think tank Pew Charitable Trusts, told Mongabay. Pew had long advocated for the development of a swordfish harvest strategy.

Shana Miller, a project director at the Washington, D.C.-based Ocean Foundation who also worked on the harvest strategy, told Mongabay that its adoption was a “momentous step forward for ICCAT” and would “lock in sustainability” for the highly sought-after species.

The adoption of the swordfish harvest strategy was a high point of the weeklong meeting that conservationists said brought mixed results. ICCAT parties showed a strong commitment to developing harvest strategies for a number of other species, came to an agreement on managing tropical tuna after years of wrangling and passed measures to fight illegal fishing and improve the safety of observers who document catches on fishing vessels. However, the tuna agreement came with certain concessions to industry that could contribute to overfishing. Experts also said the meeting went badly for shark conservation efforts, notably because a measure to stop shark finning was not adopted.

Read the full article at Mongabay

ICCAT adopts swordfish management plan, but Japan and China block efforts to strengthen shark finning ban

November 19, 2024 — The International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) has adopted a management procedure for Atlantic swordfish, but another proposal to strengthen the commission’s ban on shark finning was derailed by Japan and China.

ICCAT held its annual meeting from 11 to 18 November and had already completed a management strategy evaluation for North Atlantic swordfish. NGOs like The Pew Charitable Trusts pushed for the ICCAT – a regional fishery management organization (RFMO) – to adopt the strategy to move away from annual quota negotiations toward an automated system that makes management decisions less political and more science-based.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

New movement announced during ICCAT meeting calls for accountability in RFMOs

November 29, 2022 — Ryan Orgera, a U.S.-based marine governance expert, has launched Accountability.Fish to spur operational change in regional fisheries management organizations (RFMOs).

Orgera said the new movement aims to raise awareness of the politics behind RFMOs, which he said is leading to unsustainable management and poor accountability on decisions made to recover important fisheries. Another goal of the movement is to connect the fishing market interests such as retailers, labor unions, and other affected stakeholders to the RFMO decision-making processes.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

ICCAT agrees to measures for Atlantic bluefin, mako sharks

November 25, 2022 — The International Commission for Conservation of Atlantic Tuna (ICCAT) wrapped up its 23rd special meeting with agreements on bluefin tuna and shark conservation.

At the meeting – held in a hybrid live and online format in Vale do Lobo, Portugal from 14 to 21 November – ICCAT member-states agreed to establish a management procedure for Atlantic bluefin and set a catch quota for the Southern Atlantic mako shark population.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

NGOs urge action at ICCAT annual meeting

November 15, 2022 — The International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) is holding its annual meeting 14 to 21 November in a hybrid format, both virtually and in person in Vale do Lobo, Portugal.

In the run-up to the meeting, the International Pole and Line Foundation (IPNLF) and the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF) separately published position statements, detailing their requests to the regional fishery management organization. IPNLF promotes sustainable management of responsible pole-and-line, handline, and troll tuna fisheries while safeguarding the livelihoods they support. ISSF is a global coalition of seafood companies, fisheries experts, scientific and environmental organizations, and vessel operators that promotes science-based initiatives for long-term tuna conservation, fish-aggregating device (FAD) management, bycatch mitigation, marine ecosystem health, capacity management, and illegal fishing prevention.

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Insurer nixes coverage for Atlantic tuna fishing fleet following IUU investigation

March 23, 2022 — Norway-based marine and energy insurance firm Hydor has decided to put an end to its contract covering a fleet of ships that were found participating in illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) tuna fishing, the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF) reported.

The fleet of three ships – currently named Israr 1, 2, and 3 – has operated in the Atlantic for years and was blacklisted in December 2021 by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), following an EJF report detailing the fleet’s illicit activities. EJF’s attention was first drawn to the fleet when satellite monitoring of the vessels’ movements demonstrated they were long-lining for tuna without registering with ICCAT, the regional fishery management organization that oversees the Atlantic tuna-fishing sector.

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US effort on transshipment, labor, and stateless vessels measures results in ICCAT action

January 25, 2022 — The annual meeting of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) wrapped up on 23 November, 2021, with some notable decisions: a ban on retaining shortfin mako shark bycatch in the North Atlantic and an increase in the Western Atlantic bluefin tuna quota. There were also significant achievements at the meeting of the regional fishery management organization (RFMO) pertaining to illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing and labor conditions that received less coverage, according to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Communications Specialist Katie Wagner.

Wagner said unanimous approval is required for measures to be adopted at RFMOs, so compromise is required to enact any measure put before them. Nevertheless, the United States led an effort resulting in the successful adoption of an updated transshipment measure, Wagner said. The new ICCAT transshipment measure creates an ICCAT record of carrier vessels authorized to receive tuna and tuna-like species and other species caught in association with these fisheries in the ICCAT convention area. The also require an International Maritime Organization (IMO) number for inclusion on the authorized list of carrier vessels, use of a vessel monitoring system (VMS) for carrier vessels, and that all relevant information on transshipment activities be provided promptly to flag states, relevant coastal states, and the ICCAT Secretariat.

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ICCAT raises bluefin catch quota, protects sharks, adopts harvest strategy

November 24, 2021 — The International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), approved increases to the total allowable catch (TAC) of bluefin and bigeye at its annual meeting, which ended Tuesday, 23 November.

ICCAT is the regional fisheries management organization (RFMO) responsible for conservation of tunas and tuna-like species in the Atlantic Ocean and adjacent seas, including the Mediterranean. ICCAT fishery managers agreed to raise the Atlantic bluefin TAC for the western side of the Atlantic by 376 MT, or 16 percent, from 2,350 MT to 2,726 MT, as the 2021 western Atlantic bluefin tuna stock assessment estimates that the total biomass has increased by 9 percent between 2017 and 2020. This was a reversal from the 2020 meeting, when discussions revolved around reducing the total allowable catch.  TAC for the eastern Atlantic is unchanged. The total quota for Atlantic bluefin tuna for 2022 will be 3,483 MT.

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Tackling Tuna Conservation and Management Measures During the Global Pandemic

March 30, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

The past year posed significant logistical challenges for multilateral organizations charged with the management and conservation of tunas and other highly migratory fish stocks. They had to adapt to new formats to make critical decisions on the sustainable management of these stocks. The shift to virtual meetings and email-based decision processes caused these organizations to streamline the number of issues they worked on. This allowed decisions to be made that ensured the continuity of management for key fish stocks, by extending many management measures set to expire in 2020.

The United States is a member of several regional fisheries management organizations. Three of them are responsible for the conservation and management of tuna and tuna-like stocks. These organizations are often where dozens of countries and fishing entities come together to discuss and develop international fisheries management measures. They set the rules for how, and how much, fish can be caught, frequently through challenging—and previously in-person–multilateral negotiations.

Through these organizations, the United States promotes the long-term sustainability of fish stocks through science-based management. We work to ensure that new measures are fair and equitable to U.S. stakeholders.

Read the full release here