Posted by Mike Crispino
31 October 2013
Atlantic and Mediterranean fishing nations are getting ready to come together for the annual meeting of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), the region’s tuna regional fishery management organization (RFMO). Our coalition has a list of things we would like to see member nations accomplish. You can download our position statement here or you can use this page filled with interactive links to learn more about the issues that matter most.
GLOBAL ISSUES
Harvest Control Rules (HCRs) and Reference Points HCRs are a set of well-defined management actions to be taken in response to changes in stock status with respect to target and limit reference points. Unless there is a pre-agreed upon action plan for avoiding overfishing or for rebuilding an overfished stock, long negotiations lead to delayed action or inaction. This delay can lead to further damage to the stock, requiring even more aggressive curtailing of fishing. The adoption of HCRs is a key aspect of modern fisheries management, and is also a requirement of several eco-label certification programs.
Click here to read a blog about the importance of HCRs
Click here to watch a video about HCRs | Click here to download a report on HCRs
ISSF applauds ICCAT’s progress in 2012 setting forth a general framework for harvest control rules tied to Kobe plots in Recommendation 11-13, and the follow-up work done in 2013 by the SCRS to illustrate how an HCR consistent with Recommendation 11-13 can be implemented for North Atlantic albacore. ISSF now urges the Commission to take this work into consideration for the establishment of target and limit reference points and a HCR for North Atlantic albacore. This requires a thorough dialogue between decision makers, scientists and stakeholders involved in the process. ISSF further urges ICCAT to initiate similar work for other tuna stocks under its purview.
Closed Vessel Registries and Management of Fleet Capacity Experts agree that there is overcapacity in the global tuna fleets. Fishing fleet overcapacity increases pressure to weaken management measures and eventually leads to stock overexploitation. The first step towards managing capacity is to establish limited entry via a comprehensive closed vessel registry with an eye towards ultimately reducing the number of fishing vessels to an appropriate level. Though the IATTC is the only tuna RFMO with a closed vessel registry, its current capacity is well in excess of resource productivity.
Click here to watch a video on capacity | Click here to learn about ISSF’s capacity resolution
ISSF supports the Kobe III call for a freeze in purse seine fishing capacity by developed fishing nations and creating mechanisms to transfer capacity to developing countries with aspirations to participate in these fisheries. These steps should be taken now, since scaling back fleet capacity will become even more difficult as new vessels are introduced.
ISSF was encouraged by ICCAT’s tightening of the yellowfin and bigeye authorized vessel lists and the addition of a field in the active vessel register for unique identifiers (e.g., IMO numbers) in 2011. Moving forward, ISSF urges further effort toward a meaningful cap on fleet capacity to a level commensurate with the productivity of the ICCAT tuna resources. ISSF also urges ICCAT to amend Recommendation 11-12 (Establishment of an ICCAT Record of Vessels 20 meters in Length Overall or Greater Authorized to Operate in the Convention Area) to make having an IMO number mandatory for at least large-scale purse seine vessels.
Click here to visit the ISSF IMO Database here | Click here to learn how to obtain an IMO number for your vessel
Fish Aggregating Device (FAD) Management Setting on FADs accounts for nearly 40% of global tuna catches and 50% of global skipjack catches. The time is ripe for a concerted global effort to gather and report to RFMOs data on FADs (e.g., via logbooks) in order to better monitor FAD usage and to establish a sound basis for their management in every ocean region. With this
information, scientists can advise decision-makers on how to reduce catches of small tunas and bycatch of non-target species that are commonly associated with FADs. Providing science bodies with detailed data on FADs and other floating objects can also greatly improve their stock assessments. However, with the exception of data collected through observer programs, there remains a need and opportunity to improve the information about this type of fishing at the RFMO level. In addition there is a growing understanding of best practices in FAD construction and bycatch mitigation – developments that ISSF is actively promoting – that could be implemented in the short term.
Click here for a video on managing floating objects
The 8th Meeting of the Working Group on Integrated Monitoring Measures, held in Sapporo Japan in July 2013, forwarded a recommendation for the Commission to consider regarding the mandatory recording and reporting of such data by vessel operators to ICCAT. The adoption of this measure was endorsed by the 2013 SCRS meeting. ISSF urges ICCAT to amend Recommendation 11-01 based on the recommendations of the IMM Working Group.
Click here to download non-entangling FAD designs |
Click here for a video on saving sharks & turtles
ICCAT CONSERVATION & MANAGEMENT MEASURES
Tropical Tunas In 2011, ICCAT adopted catch limits for bigeye and yellowfin that are consistent with the advice from SCRS. There are no new assessments for these stocks and according to SCRS, these limits are not being exceeded. While the stocks should be closely monitored, there is no need to adopt new catch limits at this time.
The last assessment of the two Atlantic skipjack stocks took place in 2008, using data up to 2006. Though skipjack stocks are considered to be resilient to overfishing, current catches exceed what the SCRS then considered to be the upper bound of the estimated MSY. Given the outdated assessment and current high exploitation rates, ICCAT should mandate a new assessment for the skipjack stocks in 2014, as recommended by SCRS.
Temperate Tunas In 2013, SCRS conducted new assessments for northern and southern albacore. The northern stock assessment indicates that the stock is slightly overfished but increasing (spawning biomass is 6% below the MSY level) and overfishing is not occurring. ISSF urges ICCAT to not increase the current TAC of 28,000 t for northern albacore in order to allow the stock to continue to rebuild. For the southern stock, different models gave different results, but the median estimate suggests the stock is somewhat overfished (spawning biomass 8% below the MSY level) and subject to slight overfishing (fishing mortality is 4% above the MSY level). Projections indicate that at the current TAC level the stock status will improve only by 2020 in terms of rebuilding and ending overfishing with a probability greater than 50%. ISSF urges ICCAT to consider decreasing the current TAC of 24,000 t for southern albacore, and in no case to increase it.
Serious data deficiencies for the Mediterranean albacore stock have been highlighted by the SCRS for several years, but have not been addressed by CPCs. The Mediterranean albacore stock is the only major commercial tuna stock in the world that remains to be assessed quantitatively. ISSF urges the CPCs identified by SCRS to review their historical data for Mediterranean albacore and submit revisions to SCRS.
Sharks ISSF urges CPCs to follow the SCRS recommendation to report fishery statistics of all ICCAT and non-ICCAT fisheries capturing pelagic sharks, including recreational and artisanal fisheries. Furthermore, ISSF is urging all tuna RFMOs to adopt measures to prohibit deliberate purse seine setting around whale sharks, and the at-sea removal of shark fins – mandating that they remain naturally attached until the shark is landed.
Click here for an infographic on shark bycatch in purse seine fisheries
Click here to watch a video about our efforts to protect sharks
Does your tuna brand prohibit shark finning? Click here to find out.
Full Retention of Catch While other RFMOs have adopted tuna catch retention measures, to date ICCAT has not taken steps to do the same. The dumping of less valuable tuna in favor of higher value catch distorts our understanding of the actual impact on the tuna stocks by fishing operations.ISSF urges ICCAT to adopt comprehensive catch retention measures for all tunas.
Observer Coverage for large-scale purse seiners Comprehensive observer coverage on purse seine vessels is a critical component of sustainable fisheries management for tropical tunas. ICCAT adopted 100% observer coverage but only during the two-month FAD closure inRecommendation 11-01. ISSF urges ICCAT to extend the 100% observer coverage on large-scale purse seiners in its tropical tuna fisheries to cover the entire year. This would be facilitated if it included a regional mechanism that provides that an observer from a coastal State national program (registered with the Secretariat) will be valid in other countries’ EEZs.
Compliance ICCAT has one of the best designed and most transparent compliance assessment process of the five tuna RFMOs. The one area where it can improve, however, is regarding its scheme of responses to non-compliance. The Compliance Committee (CoC) is currently using such a scheme only on a pilot basis. ISSF urges the Commission to finalize the development of a scheme of responses to non- compliance and codify it in a permanent Recommendation, as soon as possible.
