The International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) has moved to advance a management procedure for skipjack tuna and increased Atlantic bluefin total allowable catch (TAC) but failed to make progress on other measures NGOs pushed for before the meeting took place.
ICCAT held its 29th annual meeting from 17 to 24 November, and conservation NGOs called on the regional fishery management organization (RFMO) to make a number of changes – including establishing a skipjack management procedure. Groups including The Pew Charitable Trusts, International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF), and Global Tuna Alliance all said the move would help guarantee the stock’s sustainability.
ICCAT has now followed through on that proposal, adding it to existing stocks it governs with management procedures such as Atlantic bluefin, northern albacore, and North Atlantic swordfish.
“The highlight of the 2025 meeting was ICCAT’s adoption of a management procedure (MP) for western Atlantic skipjack – a significant milestone and one of our top priorities,” ISSF said. “The commission continues to lead among tuna RFMOs in the transition to evidence-driven, precautionary management systems.”
A management procedure establishes pre-determined catch levels for a species that will be used at a given stock level, allowing an RFMO to make management decisions in advance and avoid time-consuming debate when a stock is under threat. With the latest decision, ICCAT has agreed to implement a constant TAC for western Atlantic skipjack at 30,844 metric tons (MT) for the period from 2026 to 2028.
ICCAT also made new management decisions for both western and eastern bluefin tuna utilizing the management procedure it established in 2022. ICCAT said the decision came after “long and intense discussions on the topic” for both stocks.
Western Atlantic bluefin will now be under a 3,081 MT TAC for the period spanning 2026 to 2028, and eastern bluefin will have a 48,403 MT TAC. Those levels represent increases of 13 percent and 19.3 percent, respectively.
ISSF said the intense discussion over bluefin limited the time ICCAT could make on other reforms the organization considered a priority – including electronic monitoring and observer coverage.
ISSF and the Global Tuna Alliance had both called on ICCAT to enhance observer coverage within the industrial tuna fisheries to achieve 100 percent observation of fishing and at-sea transshipment activity.
ISSF Vice President of Policy and Outreach Holly Koehler told SeafoodSource before the meeting that enhanced observation is key to ensuring the rest of the RFMO’s policies are being adequately followed.
“Without adequate monitoring, there are limits to being able to ensure those measures are being implemented effectively and fully on the water,” she said.
Despite the push from NGOs, ICCAT decided to keep minimum observer levels flat, and the commission set no timeline on achieving 100 percent monitoring. It also made no progress on electronic monitoring.
“This lack of progress is concerning. EM systems are now widely available, improving data quality and supporting accountable, science-based management,” ISSF said in a release. “ISSF will continue to work with ICCAT parties to build implementation capacity, share best practices, and support comprehensive monitoring across fleets.”
French tuna association Orthongel also criticized ICCAT’s lack of action on multiple tropical tuna species. The organization, which represents French tuna producers, said it had pushed for a reduction regarding the 45-day moratorium on fish aggregating devices (FADs) and an increase in the TAC for bigeye tunas.
ICCAT made no movement on either.
“Although the ICCAT Scientific Committee (SCRS) confirmed once again this year that bigeye tuna stocks are improving, no increase in the TAC, even a slight one, was adopted,” the group said. “However, the European fleet has made considerable efforts to rebuild the stock in recent years, with a reduction of around 50 percent in catches between 2017 and 2021 for Orthongel members.”
The group also said the FAD moratorium is “disproportionate,” given a lack of scientific evidence that it has benefited the stock.
“This measure continues to have significant socioeconomic consequences, both for the French and European purse-seine fleet and for African canneries that depend directly on their activity,” Orthongel said.
ISSF also said there were mixed outcomes for bycatch mitigation and shark conservation, including ICCAT once again not adopting a “fins naturally attached” (FNA) policy. NGOs have pushed for an FNA policy in the past, but once again, ICCAT declined to enact the measures.
“Modernizing ICCAT’s finning regulation remains a critical priority for 2026 to ensure accurate species-specific landings data and robust enforcement,” ISSF said.
