September 10, 2021
What good are regulations if they’re not followed? Why adopt policies without a strong plan to monitor adherence to them? In an era of greater expectations regarding transparency and accountability, these are the questions stakeholders are increasingly asking of regional fisheries management organizations (RFMOs) —…
In the days since the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) released its updated Red List of Threatened Species™, many colleagues have contacted ISSF to celebrate IUCN’s news that four tuna species were no longer classified as endangered (see details below). IUCN attributed the…
Science Leads the Way on Improved Drifting FAD Design and Management in Pacific Ocean Tuna Fisheries
Science-led, collaborative efforts are the key to regional fisheries management organizations making progress on improved management of fish aggregating devices (FADs), including for the world’s busiest tuna fishing grounds in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean (WCPO). Two papers written jointly by scientists with the…
Though fishing with fish aggregating devices (FADs, or more generally, floating objects) has been in practice for hundreds of years, the amount of FADs being used by purse seine vessels has increased steadily in the last two decades. In 2019, the last year for which we have complete data,…
Scientists, like almost everyone else, were forced to accept a new normal in 2020. We found ourselves sharing workspaces with our remote-learning children. Traveling much less often, as movement restrictions rendered certain projects downright unfeasible. And collaborating with colleagues virtually, rather than face-to-face—which meant missing…
Mobula rays (manta and devil rays) are some of the ocean’s slowest-growing and most vulnerable species, and are facing global pressure from multiple threats, including bycatch in fisheries. However, there is hope for these charismatic giants: preliminary evidence suggests that the methods of capturing and…
A new report, “Minimum standards for designing and implementing Electronic Monitoring systems in Indian Ocean tuna fisheries,” co-authored by scientists from ISSF, AZTI-Tecnalia and the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC), was recently presented to the IOTC Scientific Committee as an important step in accelerating the…
COVID-19 blindsided everyone in 2020. Yet crisis can galvanize people and institutions to rise to meet challenges and be their “best selves.” In important ways, the global catastrophe of COVID-19 has indeed spurred information-sharing, problem-solving, and other essential collaboration across borders and oceans. In that…
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…
Dec. 22, 2020: See an update about IATTC’s Dec. 22 emergency meeting. This year has tested all of us, including decision-makers at the Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (RFMOs) that manage commercial tuna stocks. All tuna RFMOs were forced to hold their annual meetings virtually or…
