The ISSF glossary includes definitions for terms you’ll see on our site. We compiled the glossary from several publications and resources, which are listed in our glossary bibliography.
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a
- ABFM
- ABNJ
- Abundance
- ACAP
- Acoustic tag
- Active beacon
- Adaptive management
- AFADs
- Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels
- Agreement on the International Dolphin Conservation Program
- AIDCP
- AIS
- ALB
- Albacore tuna
- Anchored FADs
- ANLOG
- AO
- Area Based Fishery Management
- Area closure
- Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction
- Artificial log resulting from human fishing activity
- Artificial log resulting from human non-fishing activity
- Artisanal fishing
- Artisanal fleet
- Associated set
- Associated species
- Atlantic bluefin tuna
- Atlantic Ocean
- Automatic Identification System
- AZTI-Tecnalia
b
- Beaching
- Beacon
- Benthic zone
- Best practice
- BET
- BFT
- Bigeye tuna
- Billfish
- Bio-FADs
- Biodegradable FADs
- Biodegradable materials
- Biodiversity
- Biological reference point
- Biomass [B]
- Biomass for the maximum sustainable yield
- Black marlin
- BLM
- Blue marlin
- Bluefin tuna
- BMIS
- BMSY
- Bony fish
- Bottom trawling
- Brailer
- BRD
- BRP
- BUM
- Bycatch
- Bycatch Management Information System
- Bycatch mitigation
- Bycatch reduction device
- Byproduct
c
- C
- CA
- Capacity building
- Capacity management
- Catch
- Catch [C]
- Catch certificate
- Catch documentation scheme
- Catch in weight
- Catch per unit of effort
- Catch-and-effort
- Catchability
- CC
- CCAMLR
- CCM
- CCSBT
- CDS
- CE
- Chondrichthyans
- CITES
- CLAV
- Closed vessel registry
- CMMs
- CNM
- Coastal states
- Coastal waters
- CoC
- COFI
- Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources
- Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna
- Commission Members, Cooperating Non-Members, and Participating Territories of the WCPFC
- Committee on Fisheries
- Compliance
- Conservation
- Conservation and management measures
- Consignment
- Consolidated List of Authorized Vessels
- Contiguous zone
- Continental shelf
- Contracting Parties and Cooperating Non-Contracting Parties
- Control measures
- Convention area
- Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea
- Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora
- Cooperating Non-Members of the WCPFC
- Coordinating Working Party on Fishery Statistics
- COP
- CPCs
- CPUE
- CWP
d
- DAB
- Deactivation
- Decision analysis
- Decision rule
- Demersal fish
- Demersal trawling
- Demersal zone
- Developed fishery
- Developing fishery
- DFADs
- Discard
- Discarded/Retained
- Dispute Advisory Body
- Distant water fishing nations
- Dolphin fishing
- Dolphin set
- Dolphin strategy
- Drifting FADs
- Driftnet
- Dropline
- DWFNs
e
- E
- e-Tunalog
- EAFM
- Eastern Pacific Ocean
- EBFM
- Echosounder
- Echosounder buoy
- Ecological risk assessment
- Ecosystem
- Ecosystem Approach for Fishery Management
- EEZ
- Efficiency
- Effort creep
- Electronic monitoring
- Electronic monitoring system
- Electronic reporting
- Electronic reporting system
- EM
- EMS
- Endangered, threatened or protected species
- Environmental Stakeholder Committee
- EPO
- ER
- ERA
- ERS
- ESC
- ETP species
- EU
- European Union
- Exceptional circumstances
- Excess capacity
- Exclusive economic zone
- Exploitation pattern
- Exploitation rate
f
- F
- FAD fishing
- FAD set
- FAD strategy
- FAD-free set
- FADs
- FAL
- FALOG
- FAO
- FCC
- FFA
- FHV
- Finfish
- FIP
- Fish aggregating devices
- Fish carrying capacity
- Fish hold volume
- Fisheries management
- Fishery
- Fishery improvement project
- Fishery policy
- Fishing capacity
- Fishing effort
- Fishing gear
- Fishing mortality at the maximum economic yield
- Fishing mortality at the maximum sustainable yield
- Fishing mortality rate
- Fishing strategy
- Flag of convenience
- Flag state
- Fleet
- Fleet size
- Flim
- Floating object
- Floating object fishing
- Floating object set
- FMEY
- FMSY
- FOB
- FOC
- Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
- Food security
- Free school
- Free school set
- Free school strategy
- Free-swimming school
- FS
- FS set
- FS strategy
- Ftarget
g
- GEF
- Geographic information system
- Ghost fishing
- Gillnet
- GIS
- Global Environmental Facility
- Global Maritime Distress and Safety System
- Global Positioning System
- GMDSS
- GN
- Governance
- GPS
- GPS buoy
- Gross register tonnage
- Gross tonnage
- Growth overfishing
- GRT
- GT
h
- Habitat
- HALOG
- Handline
- Harvest
- Harvest control rules
- Harvest policy
- Harvest rate
- Harvest ratio
- Harvest strategy
- HCR
- Helicopters and radars
- HERFADs
- High seas
- High-grading
- Highest entanglement risk FADs
- Highly migratory species or stocks
i
- IATTC
- ICCAT
- IEMRS
- IEO
- Illegal fishing
- Illegal, unreported, or unregulated fishing
- IMO
- IMO #
- Incidental catch
- Index of Abundance
- Indian Ocean
- Indian Ocean Tuna Commission
- Individual Quota
- Individual transferable quota
- Input controls measures
- Institut de Recherche pour le Développement
- Instituto Español de Oceanografía
- Integrated electronic monitoring and reporting system
- Integrated Stock Assessment
- Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission
- International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas
- International Maritime Organization
- International Maritime Organization number
- International Plans of Action
- International Pole and Line Foundation
- International Scientific Committee for Tuna and Tuna-like Species in the North Pacific Ocean
- International Union for the Conservation of Nature
- IO
- IOTC
- IPNLF
- IPOAs
- IQ
- IRD
- ISC
- ITQ
- IUCN
- IUU
- IUU vessel list
j
- Juvenile (fish)
k
- Kobe plot
- Kobe strategy matrix
l
- Landings
- Large-scale tuna longline fishing vessel
- Law of the Sea
- LBP
- Length between perpendiculars
- Length overall
- LERFADs
- Limit reference point
- Limited entry
- Line fishing
- LOA
- Log
- Logbook
- Longline [LL]
- LOS
- Lower entanglement risk FADs
- LRP
- LSTLFV
m
- Majuro plot
- Management objectives
- Management options
- Management plan
- Management procedure
- Management strategy
- Management strategy evaluation
- Marine debris
- Marine pollution
- Marine Protected Area
- Marine Resources Assessment Group
- Marine Stewardship Council
- Marine turtle
- Maritime Mobile Service Identity number
- Maturity
- Maximum economic yield
- Maximum sustainable yield
- MCS
- Mesh size
- MEY
- Midwater trawling
- MMSI #
- Monitoring, control and surveillance
- MPA
- MPs
- MRAG
- MSC
- MSE
- MSY
n
- Natural log of animal origin
- Natural log of plant origin
- Natural mortality rate [M]
- Nautical mile
- NE Bio-FADs
- NEFADs
- NGO
- NM
- Nominal catch
- Non-Contracting Parties
- Non-CPCs
- Non-entangling biodegradable FADs
- Non-entangling FADs
- Non-governmental Organization
- Non-target species
o
- OBJ
- Object set
- Observer
- Observer coverage
- Observer programs
- Oceanic Fisheries Programme
- OECMs
- OFP
- OM
- Open access fishery
- Operating model
- Operational beacon
- OPRT
- Organization for the Promotion of Responsible Tuna Fisheries
- Osteichthyes
- OT
- Other Effective Area Based Conservation Measures
- Output controls measures
- Overcapacity
- Overfished
- Overfishing
- Overseas territory
p
- P1
- P2
- P3
- Pacific bluefin tuna
- Pacific Community
- Pacific Island Country
- Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency
- Pacific Ocean
- Parties to the Nauru Agreement
- PBF
- Pelagic fish
- Pelagic trawling
- Pelagic zone
- Performance indicators
- Performance measures
- Performance metrics
- Performance statistics
- PIC
- PIs
- PL
- PNA
- PO
- Pole-and-line
- Pop-up tag
- Port States Measures Agreement
- Preassessment
- Precautionary approach
- Principle 1
- Principle 2
- Principle 3
- ProActive Vessel Register
- Productivity (biological)
- Productivity (economic)
- Productivity and Susceptibility Analysis
- PS
- PSA
- PSMA
- Purse seine
- PVR
- PZ
q
- Quota
r
- R
- Rebuilding
- Recovery plan
- Recreational fisheries
- Recreational fishing
- Recruit
- Recruitment
- Recruitment overfishing
- Reef
- Reference points
- Regional fishery body
- Regional Fishery Management Organizations
- Regional vessel register
- Registered length
- Resilience
- RFB
- RFMOs
- RGL
- Ring net
- Risk analysis
- Risk assessment
- RVR
s
- SAC
- Satellite tag
- SB
- SBT
- SC
- School
- School fishing
- Scientific Advisory Committee
- Scientific Committee
- Scoring Issue
- Sea turtle
- Selective gear
- Set
- SFP
- SH
- Shared stocks
- Shark
- Shark finning
- SI
- SIDS
- Silky shark
- Skipjack tuna
- Skippers workshops
- SKJ
- Small Island Developing States
- SOLAS
- SoS
- South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organization
- Southern bluefin tuna
- Southern hemisphere
- Spatial management
- Spawning biomass
- Spawning potential ratio
- Spawning stock biomass capable of producing maximum sustainable yield
- SPC
- Species
- Sport fisheries
- Sport fishing
- SPR
- SPRFMO
- SRR
- SSB
- SSBlim
- SSBMSY
- SSBtarget
- Stakeholder
- Status of the stocks report
- Stock
- Stock assessment
- Stock status
- Stock-Recruitment relationship
- Straddling stock
- Stranding
- Supply chain
- Supply vessel
- Support vessel
- Surface fishery
- Sustainability
- Sustainable Fisheries Partnership
- Sustainable or sustainable use (fish stocks)
- Swim bladder
- SWO
- Swordfish
t
- T-RFMO
- TAC
- TAE
- TAF
- Tagging
- Target fishing mortality rate
- Target reference point
- Target species
- Technical Advisory Board [TAB]
- Temperate tuna species
- Temperate waters
- Tender vessel
- Terms of reference
- Territorial sea
- Threshold reference point
- TOR
- Tori line
- Total allowable catch
- Total allowable effort
- Total allowable fishing mortality
- Transboundary stocks
- Transparency
- Transshipment
- Trawling
- Troll fishing
- Trolling
- Tropical tuna species
- Tropical waters
- TRP
- TrRP
- Tuna Regional Fishery Management Organization
u
- UN
- Uncertainty
- UNCLOS
- Underfished stock
- UNFSA
- UNGA
- Unique Vessel Identifier
- Unit of Assessment
- Unit of Certification
- United Nations
- United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea
- United Nations Fish Stocks Agreement
- United Nations General Assembly
- Unregulated fishing
- Unreported fishing
- Unwanted catch
- UoA
- UoC
- UVI
v
- VDS
- Vessel day scheme
- Vessel monitoring system
- Vessel operator
- Vessel owner
- VMS
- VNLOG
w
- WCPFC
- WCPO
- Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission
- Western and Central Pacific Ocean
- Whale shark set
- Wire trace/leader
- World Trade Organization
- World Tuna Purse Seine Organization
- World Wildlife Fund
- WTO
- WTPO
- WWF
y
- Yellowfin tuna
- YFT
- Yield
- Yield per recruit
- YPR