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Author: Mary Sestric

Indian Ocean Fisheries Managers Adopt Strongest FAD Management Measure Among Tuna RFMOs

Written by Mary Sestric on . Posted in Blogs, News.

ISSF applauds a productive annual meeting of the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC), which was marked by strong collaboration between members of the regional fisheries management organization (RFMO), building bridges of cooperation. We welcome solid progress for Indian Ocean (IO) tuna fisheries, especially gains for improved fish aggregating device (FAD) management and a management procedure for skipjack tuna.

Here is a review of IOTC meeting outcomes against topmost ISSF priorities outlined in our 2024 position statement.

Progress on FAD Management

Alongside our stakeholders, ISSF issued a call for improved FAD management in Indian Ocean fisheries. IOTC has been grappling with FAD management for several years and considering how best to strengthen its existing resolution on FADs.

During the week-long meeting, a coalition of IOTC member states came together to negotiate a robust FAD management measure that, as adopted, includes many best practices, specifically:

  • A definition of biodegradable and an ambitious timeline to transition to the use of biodegradable FADs
  • An IOTC-wide FAD register for FAD monitoring
  • A FAD marking scheme
  • A FAD monitoring and tracking system
  • The reporting of lost or abandoned FADs
  • Strengthened rules for FAD buoy activation and deactivation

This new IOTC FAD management measure is now the most stringent and comprehensive one of any tropical tuna RFMO. For example, the creation of an IOTC-wide register for FAD monitoring is a first among tuna RFMOs. These best-practice elements will measurably improve how FADs are used and managed, reducing the impacts of FADs on the ecosystem and increasing monitoring of these devices at sea.

While the FAD measure is an excellent improvement, a variety of fishing methods are used for tuna fishing in the Indian Ocean — it’s important that IOTC work to improve the management of all fishing gears. IOTC must adopt a comprehensive tuna management measure to cover all fishing methods and adequately address the complete impact of commercial fishing on tropical tuna stocks and the broader ecosystem.

Management Procedure for Skipjack Tuna

Indian Ocean skipjack tuna catches in 2018-2022 exceeded the harvest control rule (HCR) limit — by around 30% in 2021 and 2022 — and reached a record-high 666,408 tons in 2022, which is a 20% increase from 2020.

In response to this situation, ISSF urged IOTC to prevent skipjack catches from exceeding the limit set by the HCR. We are therefore pleased that the Commission adopted a management procedure for skipjack tuna that will help to reverse the overcatch and ensure long-term sustainability of skipjack.

Action Needed to Improve Compliance Processes

Bolstering IOTC compliance processes led our IOTC appeal this year, but there was scant improvement in this area.

We are pleased that the IOTC Compliance Committee conducted its first review under its updated compliance process. But more progress is urgently needed. IOTC reports show that the rate of compliance by members with IOTC resolutions has decreased from 65% in 2022, to 56% in 2023. It is essential for long term sustainability of the tuna resources that this trend be reversed.

ISSF reiterates its call for action: address all member non-compliance with the provision of mandatory fishery and FAD data, catch and FAD limits, and use of gillnets; and ensure that members submit the required action plans that address identified incidents of non-compliance within three months.

No Action for Yellowfin Tuna

ISSF is further dismayed that IOTC once again did not adopt critically needed improvements to its yellowfin tuna measure. Since 2015, Indian Ocean yellowfin has been overfished, subject to overfishing, and — without agreement on science-based, enforceable actions — is likely to experience further declines. That’s why ISSF and many aligned stakeholders have advocated for the IOTC yellowfin measure to include stronger provisions, including seasonal fishery closures for all gear types, that give full effect to IOTC Scientific Committee advice to reduce yellowfin catches by at least 22% (relative to the 2020 level). The Commission did not respond to these pleas.

IOTC cannot continue this stasis. The time for action is long overdue, and IOTC must develop effective, science-based management measures for yellowfin.

ISSF is also disappointed by IOTC inaction on stronger bycatch mitigation efforts, shark conservation, and increased fisheries observer coverage.

Although the lack of action on some topics is discouraging, ISSF remains pleased with other important progress made by IOTC for the management of its fisheries. We welcome the return of positive engagement and collaboration amongst IOTC parties. And we hope this spirit will result in a renewed focus among parties to work together toward the long-term sustainable use of Indian Ocean tuna fisheries.

ISSF Reviews ICCAT Annual Meeting

Written by Mary Sestric on . Posted in Blogs, News.

The International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF) is welcoming some progress for Atlantic Ocean tuna fisheries as the annual meeting of International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) concludes. We are pleased to see that the Commission made gains overall, specifically in adopting its second management procedure, advancing compliance improvements, and adopting measures for the protection of non-target species and sharks.

Here is a review of the outcomes of the ICCAT meeting against our organization’s top asks as outlined in our 2022 position statement.

Harvest Strategies

ISSF and partners have been consistently pressing for the accelerated adoption of harvest strategies for tunas across all regional fisheries management organizations (RFMOs).

At this year’s meeting, ICCAT adopted a harvest strategy (management procedure) for bluefin tuna. This is the first harvest strategy in Commission history for this species and the second harvest strategy adopted by ICCAT overall. ISSF asked ICCAT to also accelerate the development of harvest strategies for tropical tuna stocks in 2023, and the Commission is making headway here, too. These developments are welcome news. ICCAT must now continue advancing this work for the long-term protection of all Atlantic Ocean tuna stocks.

Tuna Conservation and FAD Management Measures

This year, ISSF urged action to maintain Atlantic Ocean bigeye and yellowfin tuna stocks at sustainable levels. The Commission partially addressed this need by extending its current tropical tuna measure. Keeping the measure in effect into 2023 ensures the current safeguards for these tuna stocks remain in force.

We regret, however, that certain critical elements of the measure were not strengthened. For example, the Commission did not address the matter of total allowable catch (TAC) allocation among Commission members. TACs need to be completely allocated so that non-compliances can be identified. We are hopeful that this topic will be tackled intersessionally.

In addition, the ISSF position statement detailed asks for improved FAD management measures, including a timeframe to transition to FADs without nets and to those made primarily with biodegradable materials, as well as the development of FAD recovery policies, marking schemes, and ownership rules. Unfortunately, ICCAT fell short in meeting our urgent request to manage FADs more comprehensively.

Compliance Committee Action

Another bright spot at the ICCAT meeting came with improvements to its compliance processes. Ahead of the meeting, ISSF’s requested the ICCAT Compliance Committee address non-compliance by member nations with fish aggregating device (FAD) data reporting requirements. Without accurate and complete reporting of data on FAD use by Commission members, management measures cannot be fact based or meaningful. We are therefore pleased that these requirements were reviewed and the reporting format for historical data on FAD sets was clarified.

Also of note, the Compliance Committee adopted a Schedule of Actions for compliance issues and a Recommendation on the use of the Integrated Online Management System. Both of these actions will enhance the efficiency of compliance reviews and were among those recommended by Expert Workshops on Best Practices in Compliance in RFMOs. ISSF is pleased ICCAT is taking the issue of compliance reforms seriously.

Protections for Sharks and Turtles

Overfishing of shortfin mako sharks in the Atlantic Ocean and an associated decline in the species spurred ISSF and NGOs to demand that ICCAT take action to protect these sharks. And we are gratified that, following the 2021 adopted measure for North Atlantic shortfin makos, this year ICCAT agreed to a similar measure for South Atlantic shortfin makos starting in 2023. ISSF is also pleased that the Commission adopted a stronger measure to mitigate the bycatch of sea turtles.

There was a good spirit of cooperation amongst ICCAT parties this year; it was a meeting of partial hits and some misses. We hope you will join ISSF efforts to continue to seek progress for Atlantic Ocean tuna fisheries into the New Year.

IATTC Meeting Outcomes

Written by Mary Sestric on . Posted in eNewsletters, News.

Featured Blog

Eastern Pacific Ocean Tuna Fisheries

Wins for Transshipment, Harvest Strategies and Compliance Reforms, but Misses on Measures for Stronger FAD Management, Increased Observer Coverage, and Protections for Sharks

At the conclusion of the annual meeting of Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC), the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF) is reflecting on the outcomes for Eastern Pacific Ocean (EPO) tuna fisheries. While we are disappointed that the Commission did not address our top ask on improved fish aggregating device (FAD) designs, we are pleased that managers made headway on important topics like at-sea transshipment measures, harvest strategies, and compliance reforms.

Here is a review of the results of the IATTC meeting against our organization’s priorities as outlined in our 2022 position statement.

Read the blog

 

Featured Report 

Slight Decrease in Purse Seine Vessels Overall, and Fewer Large Scale Purse Seine Vessels Fishing for Tropical Tuna Species Globally 

ISSF has updated its Large-Scale Tuna Purse Seine Fishing Fleets report for July 2022. The total number of purse seine vessels, calculated based on data from the five tuna Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (RFMOs), has decreased slightly from 1,855 in 2021’s report to 1,808 today. 

Read the report 


Featured Infographic

View the graphic

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Eastern Pacific Ocean Tuna Fisheries: Wins for Transshipment, Harvest Strategies and Compliance Reforms, but Misses on Measures for Stronger FAD Management, Increased Observer Coverage, and Protections for Sharks

Written by Mary Sestric on . Posted in Blogs, Featured, News.

At the conclusion of the annual meeting of Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC), the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF) is reflecting on the outcomes for Eastern Pacific Ocean (EPO) tuna fisheries. While we are disappointed that the Commission did not address our top ask on improved fish aggregating device (FAD) designs, we are pleased that managers made headway on important topics like at-sea transshipment measures, harvest strategies, and compliance reforms.

Here is a review of the results of the IATTC meeting against our organization’s priorities as outlined in our 2022 position statement.

At-sea Transshipment

At-sea transshipment presents risks for illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing and other illicit activities if not well-managed and transparent. That’s why ISSF and our partners urged IATTC to address deficiencies and loopholes in its transshipment measure to increase monitoring and to ensure more complete and timely data collection and sharing. Fortunately, at this year’s meeting the Commission answered this call by modernizing their measure, making it more consistent with best practices. These practices address items like IMO number requirements, electronic transmission of notifications and transshipment declarations, shortened reporting deadlines, and vessel monitoring systems (VMS) on carrier vessels, regardless of size.

Harvest Strategies for All Tunas

IATTC has been advancing species-specific harvest strategies, including harvest control rules, for many years. Harvest strategies provide pre-agreed rules for managing fisheries resources and are essential for quick RFMO action in response to stock status changes. ISSF congratulates the IATTC on its adoption of a harvest strategy for North Pacific Albacore. Action by the IATTC for this important resource paves the way for the adoption of harvest strategies for the other target tuna stocks in EPO fisheries.

Compliance Reforms

ISSF and our partners have long advocated for the IATTC to strengthen compliance assessment processes, and we are pleased that progress was made in this critical area this year. While the IATTC had previously adopted a detailed measure for its Committee for the Review of Implementation of Measures, the Commission was not implementing many of the measure’s provisions. Other reforms were also needed to strengthen and make the compliance process more transparent. We therefore welcome the adoption of improvements that include many of the best practices promoted by ISSF and partners: improved follow-up and reporting on identified infractions; greater detail in compliance reports; better presentation of data to facilitate reviews; development of improvement plans and capacity building; and mechanisms to identify patterns of infractions.

FAD Management

We once again urged the IATTC to address FAD management gaps this year. Our most urgent appeal was that the Commission prohibit the use of netting in FADs and transition fleets to the increased use of biodegradable materials. Thousands of FADs with netting panels drift in the eastern Pacific Ocean and some of them end up stranding or sinking far from their fishing grounds. Plastic netting increases the risk of entanglement, has the potential to damage vulnerable ecosystems such as coral reefs, and can persist at sea for hundreds of years. Yet, IATTC currently allows netting in FAD construction and has no agreed definition of biodegradable FADs. Disappointingly, there were no proposals to advance needed improvements in FAD designs at the IATTC meeting. Inaction in this area means in another year of the status quo that will not reduce the impact of FAD structures on the marine ecosystem in the Eastern Pacific Ocean.

Other Misses for EPO Tuna Fisheries

In addition to FADs, there are other important topics that IATTC did not address. ISSF is disappointed that the Commission did not adopt better protections for sharks and other bycatch species in EPO purse seine and longline fisheries, especially stronger measures for the prevention of shark finning. The Commission also failed to improve its observer coverage requirements — which fall short of the 100% coverage rate for small purse seine and longline tuna fisheries that ISSF and its partners have long promoted — even incrementally.

While a robust list of to-dos remains for the Commission, ISSF applauds the positive steps at last week’s IATTC meeting. We remain watchful and engaged to ensure that more progress can be made for the long-term protection of EPO tuna fisheries.

 

ISSF Statement in Response to IATTC Special Meeting

Written by Mary Sestric on . Posted in Blogs, News, Press Releases, Statements.

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.

The Year in Tuna Sustainability: Some Celebrations, Some Disappointments

Written by Mary Sestric on . Posted in Blogs, News.

One of the biggest fish in Silicon Valley, Elon Musk, stirs up turbulence with just about everything he says. But, as I reviewed 2019’s record of progress in tuna sustainability, one of his comments came back to me, calm and clear.

“I’m learning patience,” he once said. “It’s a tough lesson.”

True, our work with the world’s regional fishing management organizations (RFMOs) generated some notable accomplishments. Equally true: the pursuit of other victories just consumed a ton of patience. In that spirit, I’d like to recap the year’s RFMO activity in sustainably conserving and managing the world’s tuna resources — ISSF’s core mission.

First, the accomplishments. Two RFMOs, the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) and the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), acted decisively to reduce the impact of fish-aggregating devices, or FADs, on marine ecosystems. That was encouraging news for ISSF, because we’ve championed science-based FAD reforms, and spearheaded research to reduce their impacts, since 2009.

Fishing Gains Selectivity and Sustainability

New IOTC measures for purse-seine fishing vessels will require non-entangling FADs (designed to reduce the chance of accidentally ensnaring species such as sharks and turtles) in 2020, and biodegradable materials in FADs in 2022. At the same time, IOTC reduced the number of active FADs per vessel in IOTC waters from 350 to 300, and scaled down each vessel’s total, active and inactive, FAD count from 700 to 500.

IOTC also clarified its reporting rules for data on FADs, and took steps towards standardized FAD marking, tracking, and retrieval procedures. These measures, along with the non-entangling and biodegradability steps, support better resource management, reduce risks to sensitive species; minimize beachings of derelict FADs; and decrease plastics pollution. 

Meanwhile, in the Atlantic, ICCAT made notable strides in:

  • Expanding time limits for FAD-based fishing across its entire convention area
  • Reducing the number of active FADs per vessel
  • Placing observers on more vessels, under safer conditions

Specifically: In 2020, FADs fishing will pause during January and February throughout the Atlantic Ocean and adjacent waters. The restriction will stretch to three months in 2021 and beyond. Until now, limits on fishing with FADs applied for only two months, in just a limited part of ICCAT’s convention area.

Also reduced is the number of FADs with active electronic buoys that allow fishers to determine the device’s location and the amount of tuna under it. By 2021, no vessel will be allowed to operate more than 300 active buoys in ICCAT waters, compared to the current limit of 500 — the highest number allowed by any RFMO.

In a landmark action, ICCAT finally responded to calls for full onboard observer coverage, and greater attention to observer safety. Previous requirements placed observers only on tropical tuna purse seiners during a two-month, regionally limited fishing moratorium. Now all purse seine vessels targeting tropical tunas will have to carry observers throughout the year. And, in 2022, 10 percent of all longline vessels over 20 meters will also be required to carry observers, doubling the number of vessels covered under the old rules.

The scientific payoffs from greater observer coverage are hard to overstate. ICCAT scientists, whose bycatch estimates long have suffered from inadequate data, soon will see first-hand accounts of catches and interactions with non-target species in both fisheries. Higher-quality data streams will boost the accuracy of stock assessments, enhance monitoring, and pave the way to improved conservation measures.

Those are clear steps toward sustainability. But 2019 also saw its share of missed opportunities – and for these our patience is tested.

Indifference Blocks Turtle, Shark Protection

Once again, the majority of RFMOs failed to adopt science-based best practices for protecting sea turtles from tuna fishing hazards. While the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC) took some positive steps, neither ICCAT nor IOTC added stronger longline-fishing safeguards for turtles. ICCAT actually ignored advice from its own scientists regarding shallow-set longline fisheries, where most turtle bycatch deaths occur.

Similarly, all four tuna RFMOs ended another year without addressing the clearly recognized overfishing of certain shark stocks. For example, ICCAT research indicates North Atlantic shortfin mako depletion serious enough to justify a 50-year-plus rebuilding period. But the commission again failed to act on input from its own scientific body.

Elsewhere, in IATTC purse-seine tuna fisheries, the silky shark leads other shark species in bycatch, and is often caught by longline fisheries. Long-term bycatch declines among large silky sharks confirm dwindling populations. While IATTC did modestly adjust its shark-bycatch regulations in 2019, two information gaps still hinder accurate assessments:
• Scanty operational data from longline fisheries
• Scarce fishery and biological sampling data

These deficiencies are significant because insufficient data (due to very low onboard observer coverage) is often cited as an excuse for inaction by the same nations that block increases in observer coverage — a contrived dilemma some of my colleagues call “Bycatch 22”. It’s time to end this tired refrain and move ahead.

What’s more, although the tools exist and the science is clear, neither IOTC, IATTC, nor ICCAT introduced requirements for best practices for handling sharks. By slow-walking progress toward integrated management of tuna resources and the threatened species also caught in these fisheries, RFMOs continue to live up to public criticisms.

Loopholes, Laxity Enable Furtive Activities

ISSF and a coalition of NGOs have long pressed for reforms in at-sea transshipment, which occasions a wide range of potential illegal activities. Several RFMO member state leaders have joined us but, so far, no RFMO has effectively addressed loopholes and laxity regarding:

  • Time frames for requesting transshipment authorization
  • Observer coverage on both carriers and fishing vessels
  • Wider data-sharing arrangements
  • Shorter deadlines for submitting transshipment declarations

The nations most active in transhipment have blocked proposed IATTC and ICCAT reforms. At least a Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) working group is reviewing outdated transshipment measures in the world’s largest tuna fishery. While this is a positive sign, the group spent all of 2019 on preliminary procedural matters.

So — how should we approach 2020? Myself, I plan to remember that good outcomes hardly ever happen in a week or a month. They’re created day by day, sometimes over the course of years — not through confrontation, but with patience and perseverance. Let’s stay hopeful, manage our expectations … and keep at it.

 

Decoding the acoustic signatures of bigeye and skipjack tuna at sea could help fishers estimate the number of fish by species and size — and reduce bycatch

Written by Mary Sestric on . Posted in Blogs, News.

Your lunchtime tuna melt or sashimi platter may seem tame, but the main ingredient probably was swimming wild in the tropics not too long ago. Although that wild existence makes your tuna tasty and firm, it limits the ability of fishers to distinguish between abundant tuna species and less abundant ones.

Let me explain.

Regional fishery management organizations (RFMOs) — not to mention the tuna fishing and processing industries — can’t make informed decisions without reliable data. That means they find it difficult to answer questions like,

  • “How many skipjack, yellowfin and bigeye tuna can we harvest without compromising stock health?”
  • “How can we avoid overfishing the less resilient tuna species such as bigeye and yellowfin?”

The Data Problem

While current vessel technology can predict the presence of fish in the water, it can’t reliably distinguish bigeye from plentiful, similar-sized skipjack (Katsuwonus pelamis) or yellowfin (Thunnus albacares) before the crew hauls the whole set aboard. That shortcoming hampers the development and practice of selective fishing techniques that fishers can use to identify and catch more abundant tuna species and avoid less abundant ones.

But now we — a team of scientists from ISSF and the marine research center AZTI —are working to improve standard fishing aids to crack the tuna-identification problem, one species at a time.

In a paper titled “In situ target strength of bigeye tuna (Thunnus obesus) associated with fish aggregating devices,” published July 23, 2019, in ICES Journal of Marine Science, we detail an innovative species-identification approach that capitalizes on two common technologies used for tropical tuna fishing:

  • Echo-sounding gear that’s standard equipment on commercial purse seine tuna vessels
  • Fish aggregating devices (FADs), which are floating structures that attract large numbers of fish in the open ocean

Although comparatively low-tech in design, a typical FAD features geolocation and echo-sounding hardware to estimate and report the quantity of fish swimming underneath, and to guide a fishing vessel to its position. FADs are significant because captures around them represent about 65 percent (or 1.72 million tonnes) of the tuna caught by purse-seine vessels in tropical seas per year.

One of the keys to using echo-sounders for species discrimination is knowledge of the acoustic target strengths at differing sound frequencies for each species. Each species displays distinctive echo patterns in response to echo-sounding pulses.

Our team broke new ground by:

  • Measuring target strength values under actual fishing conditions, during a month at sea aboard a working purse-seine fishing vessel in 2014 and 2016.
  • Investigating the echo response of bigeye and skipjack tuna to three different acoustic frequencies at FADs in the central Pacific Ocean.

Anatomy of an Innovation

A little technical background: When an acoustic wave strikes an underwater object, some of its energy reflects back to the source. That reflection provides clues to the object’s distance, size and physical makeup, as well as the presence of other nearby bodies. To a sound wave, most of a fish’s tissues are practically transparent; acoustic energy passes through aquatic creatures almost as easily as it does through water.

However, most fish possess an organ — the swimbladder — that happens to be an excellent acoustic reflector. Up to 95 percent of the signal an echo-sounder picks up from a typical fish consists of energy rebounding from its swimbladder.

Marine scientists and fishing fleets measure these echoes in terms of target strength. Depending on the frequency of the echolocation pulse, the target strength of a bladderless fish is lower than the target strength of a bladder-bearing fish of similar size and shape.

These results are exciting because they point the way toward practical applications for acoustic discrimination between the bigeye and skipjack, as well as direct, accurate estimation of the abundance of all tuna species caught at FADs.

Our findings pave the way to advance the already-existing drive for economical, selective targeting of certain species. More selective species targeting helps reduce wasteful bycatch and mortality among less abundant species.

 

For an illustrated, less technically detailed account of our research, see our recent PLOS One research article, “Towards acoustic discrimination of tropical tuna associated with Fish Aggregating Devices.”

 

 

 

 

 

ISSF to IOTC: Listen to Your Scientists, Take Immediate Steps to Protect Yellowfin

Written by Mary Sestric on . Posted in News, Press Releases.

The International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF) published its position statement in advance of the 23rd Session of the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) in Hyderabad, India, June 17-21.  

ISSF’s highest priority item for IOTC is the adoption of an effective rebuilding plan for yellowfin tuna, one that gives full effect to the recommendations from IOTC’s Scientific Committee. In 2018, the Scientific Committee reported that catches of yellowfin tuna exceeded by 3% the management measures previously agreed by the Commission that called for reductions in catches; reductions that did not even meet the scientific advice.

“Fisheries managers must act to protect Indian Ocean yellowfin,” said ISSF President Susan Jackson. “The scientific evidence regarding the status of Indian Ocean yellowfin is well-documented and concerning, and the IOTC has the power to adopt management measures that will rebuild this stock. The IOTC must heed the advice of its Scientific Committee and adopt effective management measures to reverse the decline of this critical resource.”

For yellowfin tuna, a species that is subject to overfishing, an over-catch of 3% places further stress on this resource. According to ISSF, IOTC should adopt an effective rebuilding plan for yellowfin tuna that: gives full effect to the advice of the IOTC Scientific Committee and achieves a healthy spawning biomass for the species by 2024 with at least 50% probability.

ISSF also advocates that IOTC:  

  1. Adopt species-specific harvest strategies as soon as possible, particularly for yellowfin tuna, and conduct a review of the limit reference points (LRPs) in Resolution 15/10 to allow for the adoption of harvest control rules by 2020.
  2. Urgently address data gaps in artisanal fisheries, especially for gillnets.
  3. Strengthen monitoring, control and surveillance (MCS) measures, such as vessel monitoring systems (VMS) and the regional observer scheme (ROS), to support data collection, monitoring and the implementation of harvest strategies.
  4. Strengthen fish aggregating device (FAD) management, including of supply and tender vessels; ensure full implementation of non-entangling FADs; and support testing of biodegradable FADs.
  5. Amend Res. 11/04 to require 100% observer coverage on large-scale purse seine vessels; adopt the ROS Standards for national programs; and develop electronic monitoring/electronic reporting (EM/ER) standards so that EM can be used to ultimately achieve 100% observer coverage in purse seine and longline fisheries.
  6. Continue to strengthen the IOTC compliance assessment process.

Read the full IOTC Position Statement, available in English or French, on the ISSF website.

ISSF Global Priorities for Tuna RFMOs

ISSF is committed to advocating for science-based approaches, policies and conservation measures to advance tuna fisheries sustainability. The following are ISSF’s Global Priorities for Tuna RFMOs, specifically, 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):

  • Implementation of rigorous harvest strategies, including harvest control rules and reference points;
  • Effective management of fleet capacity, including developing mechanisms that support developing coastal state engagement in the fishery;
  • Science-based FAD management & non-entangling FAD designs;
  • Increased member compliance with all adopted measures adopted, and greater transparency of processes reviewing member compliance with measures;
  • Strengthened MCS measures and increased observer coverage, including through modern technologies such as electronic monitoring and e-reporting; and;
  • Adoption of best-practice bycatch mitigation and shark conservation and management measures.

 

What’s Fair Game on the High Seas?

Written by Mary Sestric on . Posted in News, Press Releases.

Sustainability-driven new research could one day help tuna fisheries cast their nets more selectively, mitigating unintentional “bycatch” of undersized fish and off-limits species.

The key development is an innovative application of electronic fish-finders like those commonly used by commercial tuna fleets. A multinational research team conducted the investigation under the sponsorship of the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF).

In a research article titled Acoustic Discrimination of Tropical Tuna, published today in PLOS ONE, the peer-reviewed open-access journal of the Public Library of Science, the ISSF team’s findings address a chronic challenge for commercial fishing fleets: How is it possible to identify and harvest mature, sustainable tuna without disturbing young fish or other species in the same vicinity?

As corresponding author Gala Moreno, Ph. D., explains, “If you’re working with land animals, you can walk right up to the herd and count them by size and species. But, typically, fish are out of your reach, hard to see, and constantly moving in three dimensions.”

Tuna support some of the world’s largest and most valued fisheries. The prevailing technique in many tuna fisheries worldwide employs large “purse seine” nets to collect everything that swims inside a circle of up to 500 meters (about a third of a mile) across and as much as 180 meters deep. Typically, purse-seine fishing is conducted near fish-aggregating devices (FADs), passive structures built to exploit marine life’s tendency to gather beneath floating objects.

In an ideal scenario, a purse-seine vessel would head for a given FAD where shipboard or FAD-based electronics have detected a promising mass of fish. Then (again, ideally) the crew would set its net and haul in a uniform catch of mature skipjack tuna, a favored species that’s considered plentiful enough to be caught sustainably.

In practice, however, FADs attract mixed populations that include unacceptably small skipjack, as well as yellowfin and bigeye tuna of all sizes, which can be proscribed in certain waters. But sorting them out before the net closes in is practically impossible. A technology capable of analyzing the proportions of various tuna species swimming together, at a distance, would:

  • Help fishing-vessel skippers selectively target sustainable species
  • Save fuel and reduce marine-engine emissions by guiding vessels more directly to the right fishing grounds
  • Reduce wasteful bycatch and the mortality of vulnerable species

Current acoustic technology can detect schools of tuna around FADs remotely, but so far no conventional onboard or FAD-mounted device can distinguish fine detail such as fish sizes or species. Based on innovative field work, performed at sea on commercial fishing vessels, the new paper explores a technique for repurposing standard echolocation devices to predict not only the quantities but also the mix of sizes and species in an aggregation of fish.

A key factor is the gas-filled swim bladder that regulates buoyancy in most bony fishes. The interface between the trapped gas and the bladder envelope is an effective sound reflector. Marine echolocation devices work primarily by emitting powerful sonic pulses, then reading the sound that bounces back from that interface or other tissue. Each species reflects certain frequencies more strongly than others, so each presents a distinctive acoustic signature.

Bigeye and yellowfin are equipped with similar swim bladders, but skipjack make do with no swim bladders at all. The resulting difference in acoustic signatures could eventually help skippers distinguish skipjack from bigeye and yellowfin remotely.

Although acoustic properties have long been used to assess the abundance and species of fish other than tuna, the ISSF team’s work has produced the first sonic-discrimination data that could lead to practical, selective tuna fishing techniques around FADs in the tropics.

Instruments on board the team’s host vessel supplied an unprecedented level of calibrated acoustic data describing the frequency responses of tropical tuna. Measurements stemming from the vessel’s capture of entire tuna aggregations were vastly more reliable than comparable data gathered in earlier surveys involving smaller-scale fishing operations.

According to Dr. Moreno, “Our research opens the door to several positive developments: faster growth of knowledge about the acoustic properties of tropical tunas; the advantages of close collaboration with commercial operations in support of science; definition of the conditions necessary for applying this technology for selective fishing; and projections of other uses of direct acoustic observations, as direct indices of tropical tuna abundance, to support tuna conservation.”

 

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Financial Disclosure
The research reported in the present document was funded by the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation and the Common Oceans ABNJ Tuna Project. The research was conducted independently by the authors. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish or preparation of the manuscript.

ISSF & WWF to IOTC

Written by Mary Sestric on . Posted in Blogs, News.

Posted by Claire van der Geest & Umair Shahid

Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) Member States will soon commence their 23rd session, and the rebuilding of the overfished Indian Ocean yellowfin tuna stock is a central and critical item on the agenda—again. It is high time that the IOTC adopt, and its Member States implement, a yellowfin conservation and management measure based squarely on the recommendations and advice of the IOTC’s own Scientific Committee.

Of the 4.8 million tonnes of major commercial tuna caught globally, twenty-eight percent is yellowfin tuna, second only to skipjack. Yellowfin comprises a large portion of the annual tuna catch in the Indian Ocean and scientists continue to classify Indian Ocean yellowfin tuna as being overfished and subject to overfishing.      

This stock status is the result of multiple factors. First, the IOTC adopted an interim rebuilding measure that did not require as much of a catch reduction as was recommended by the IOTC Scientific Committee. (The Committee recommended a reduction that would achieve stock rebuilding by 2024 with at least 50% probability.) Then, as the adopted interim measure has been put into practice—with increases in catches by some fleets and a failure by other fleets to meet obligations for catch reductions—it has actually resulted in an overall increase (three per cent) in yellowfin catch. That’s a perilous situation for a stock that has been subjected to fishing pressures exceeding sustainable levels.

So how do we rebuild the stock? The Commission must agree to adopt management measures that actually reduce the amount of fishing mortality, thereby reducing the amount of yellowfin tuna caught in the Indian Ocean. Together at ISSF and WWF, we are urging IOTC to:

  • Adopt an effective rebuilding plan for yellowfin tuna that gives full effect to the advice of the IOTC Scientific Committee.
    • Specifically, a plan that achieves spawning biomass of BMSY by 2024 with at least 50% probability, including through management options like time/area closures (e.g., FAD closures or total closures). These options must be based on the scientific advice, and ensure all gears harvesting yellowfin are taken into account.
  • Revise overall catch reductions to improve rebuilding potential and address the current circumstances that allow for growth in some fishery sectors. 
  • Ensure IOTC Contracting Party and Cooperating Non-Contracting Party (CPC) compliance with the rebuilding plan through the IOTC Compliance Committee. 

ISSF and WWF want to see rigorous management because yellowfin tuna is vital for food security both inside and outside the region and for economic development particularly of Indian Ocean coastal States.

Further, in addition to other priorities like enhancing FAD management, progressing harvest strategies for all tuna stocks and strengthening bycatch measures, ISSF and WWF will be working diligently with IOTC members and other stakeholders to strengthen the suite of IOTC monitoring, control and surveillance (MCS) measures.

We are focused specifically this year on: (1) strengthening the IOTC vessel monitoring system and (2) enhancing the IOTC regional observer program in line with best practices. Today, we have more opportunities, in the form of alternate data collection mechanisms like electronic reporting and monitoring, which must be incorporated within the regional observer scheme (ROS) programme of work to enable data collection that supports effective monitoring of adopted measures and the ability of the IOTC to make informed management decisions.

The IOTC Member States cannot repeat the past and adopt an ineffective and weak yellowfin measure—a measure that resulted only in the further declines to the status of the stock. ISSF and WWF call upon IOTC to adopt an effective rebuilding plan for yellowfin tuna that gives full effect to the advice of the IOTC Scientific Committee and strengthen its MCS tools to ensure this valuable tuna resource is available for future generations.

 

Claire van der Geest is Strategic Policy Advisor for ISSF and Umair Shahid is the Indian Ocean Tuna Manager at World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).