Businesses and environmental NGOs are both working to push the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC) into adopting its first-ever management procedures for tuna at its next meeting, which starts on 24 August.
Groups have been pushing the regional fishery management organization (RFMO) to adopt management procedures for multiple species it governs. Management procedures, also called harvest strategies, are a means of setting predetermined triggers on how a species is managed so that an RFMO has a clear roadmap for how to adjust fishing effort based on what surveys and scientific analysis of a stock indicate.
The IATTC was urged to create a management procedure in 2025 but fell short of the full goal. However, it did advance management strategy evaluations (MSE) for tropical tunas, giving it more information on how it could ultimately implement the full management procedure.
Now, according to The Pew Charitable Trusts Senior Officer Dave Gershman, the IATTC is closer than ever to a management strategy.
“We’re at a point where the IATTC could adopt an interim multi-species management procedure that considers all four stocks of tropical tunas,” Gershman told SeafoodSource. “That’s a really big inflection point, a big historic moment, that we’re on the cusp of.”
Gershman said the IATTC is considering a management procedure that would account for the bigeye, skipjack, and yellowfin stocks – with yellowfin technically being managed as two separate stocks. If the IATTC manages to move forward on some of the proposals that will be on the table at its upcoming meeting, it would be the first of its kind in the Pacific.
The multi-species plan is being created thanks to the MSE that was done on bigeye, Gershman said.
“They looked at how the harvest control rule would impact skipjack and yellowfin tunas, and it’s not a full multi-species MSE but does look at how this harvest control rule would perform in terms of keeping those stocks at the proper status objective,” Gershman said.
The forward momentum on management procedures comes as both NGOs and the industry are marching to a “greater drumbeat” to establish sustainable, long-term management of tropical tuna.
Gershman said there’s no better time to establish management procedures for the four stocks because all of them have been found to be healthy, with bigeye turning out to be in even better condition than was previously thought.
“There’s no better time than now to adopt a long-term plan. We don’t want to wait until there is a crisis,” Gershman said. “Everyone knows that when there is a crisis, making decisions get more difficult.”
The International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF) has also pushed for management procedures and is also encouraging the IATTC to bring the proposals across the finish line to secure long-term sustainability for tropical tunas.
“Management procedures are designed to provide predictable, science-based decision-making that responds to changing stock conditions while reducing uncertainty,” ISSF Vice President of Policy and Outreach Holly Koehler wrote in an outline of ISSF’s priorities for the upcoming meeting. “Continued investment in these tools, including for Pacific bluefin tuna and South Pacific albacore, will help ensure that fisheries management keeps pace with both scientific knowledge and changing ocean conditions.”
Coalitions of businesses are also interested in seeing the IATTC adopt a management procedure for tropical tunas.
Sea Pact Executive Director Sam Grimley told SeafoodSource his organization – which is a coalition of leading North American seafood companies – is also pushing for management procedures.
Grimley said sustainability of the tuna stocks and the future of the industry “go hand in hand,” as the industry needs productive stocks in order to have fish to sell. He advocates for the industry to participate in the RFMO meetings to make sure its voice is heard alongside NGOs and environmental groups.
“It's essential that industry has a seat at the table because the decisions made in these meetings directly affect the long-term availability of the resources these businesses depend on,” Grimley said. “It's also worth noting the value of participating through a coalition like Sea Pact since individual companies may not have the capacity to be at every table themselves. Working together lets the mid-supply chain have an opportunity that would otherwise be hard for any one company to achieve on its own.”
He said the management procedure would ensure more than just the sustainability of the stock; it would ensure the stability of the businesses that rely on the stock, too.
“Much of tropical tuna management gets renegotiated year to year, which makes it hard for businesses to plan sourcing, investment, or long-term business commitments with real confidence,” Grimley said. “A management procedure sets harvest strategies in advance, tied to stock health, so stakeholders know roughly what to expect. It's also a stronger demonstration of sustainability, which matters for markets and buyers with sustainable sourcing requirements.”
