18 May 2018: A global group of 118 commercial and nonprofit organizations has called for regional fishery management organizations (RFMOs) to take immediate action “to address critical tuna sustainability priorities.” In a letter to the four tuna RFMOs, the group requested seven specific actions related to harvest strategies, catch monitoring and control, bycatch limits, surveillance, and fish-aggregating devices (FADs).

The NGO Tuna Forum organized the initiative, which brings together organizations that work on tuna sustainability. The Forum works to increase inter-NGO engagement and market partner engagement on RFMO management and advocacy, market-based mechanisms for improving tuna sustainability, and research. The group sent the letter to the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC), the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC), the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) and the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC).

In the letter, the group of fishing industry organizations, tuna buyers and NGOs call on the IOTC, IATTC, ICCAT and WCPFC to:

1. develop and implement comprehensive, precautionary harvest strategies with specific timelines for all tuna stocks, including adopting and implementing target and limit reference points, harvest control rules, monitoring strategies, operational objectives, performance indicators and management strategy evaluation;
2. adopt a 100 percent observer coverage requirement for purse seine vessels and require use of the best-available observer safety equipment, communications and procedures;
3. increase compliance with mandatory minimum five percent longline observer coverage rates by identifying and sanctioning non-compliance and adopt and implement a 100 percent observer coverage requirement (human and/or electronic) within five years for longline fisheries;
4. adopt and implement a 100 percent observer coverage requirement for at-sea transshipment activities and other measures that ensure transparent, well-managed transshipment activity, and that all required data is fully collected and sent to appropriate bodies in a timely manner;
5. develop and implement science-based recommendations for effective FAD management and integrate FAD-based information into stock assessments;
6. adopt effective measures for use of non-entangling FAD designs as a precautionary measure to minimize sharks’ and other non-target species’ entanglement, and support research on biodegradable materials and transition to their use to mitigate marine debris; and
7. more effectively implement, and ensure compliance with, existing RFMO bycatch requirements and take additional mitigation action, such as improving monitoring at sea, collecting and sharing operational-level, species-specific data, and adopting stronger compliance measures, including consequences for non-compliance for all gear types.

In a press release, the NGO Tuna Forum underscored the highly migratory nature of tuna stocks and said that accelerated action in these areas is critical to ensure the “long-term sustainability of tuna fisheries.”

Accelerated action in these areas is critical to ensure the long-term sustainability of tuna fisheries.

These actions are also in line with SDG target 14.4, which calls for, by 2020, effectively regulating harvesting and ending overfishing, illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing and destructive fishing practices, and implementing science-based management plans to restore fish stocks. [Ocean Action Hub Press Release] [NGO Tuna Forum Press Release]