Multiple NGOs are calling for the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) to continue its work on management procedures and enact stronger monitoring and observer coverage ahead of its annual meeting.
ICCAT’s 29th annual meeting runs from 17 to 24 November, and the regional fishery management organization (RFMO) has a range of management considerations to tackle. Among those, NGOs like the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF) and Pew Charitable Trusts are calling on the management organization to enhance observation coverage of the region’s longline fleets and to establish a management procedure for western Atlantic skipjack tunas.
Management procedures have been a hot topic for RFMOs in recent years, and establish pre-determined management plans that will trigger depending on fishing activity and environmental factors. The policy creates science-based targets for quotas, establishing a more modernized version of management that helps mitigate the effects of politics on the sustainable management of economically important species.
ICCAT has already adopted harvest strategies for other species. In 2024, NGOs pushed the RFMO to adopt a harvest strategy for North Atlantic swordfish, an effort that ultimately paid off with a new management procedure for the species. That effort built on prior efforts to build a similar management procedure for Atlantic bluefin, which has been used to effectively manage the stock since ICCAT passed the measure in 2022.
ISSF Vice President of Policy and Outreach Holly Koehler told SeafoodSource the organization is calling for ICCAT to continue that work on management procedures with a new one for western Atlantic skipjack.
Koehler said ICCAT has made quite a bit of progress already.
“They have a well-developed procedure for Atlantic skipjack, and that’s the one we’re really urging get adopted this year,” she said. “They have a number of other species, but they have a good plan, and they’re moving forward in that plan.”
The Pew Charitable Trusts said skipjack fisheries in the Atlantic Ocean alone are worth more than USD 1 billion (EUR 858 million), and western Atlantic skipjack accounts for over 6 percent of that value.
“An MP for western Atlantic skipjack would be the first for a tropical tuna in the Atlantic and could lead to ecolabel certifications, which can help consumers know that the fish they purchase is managed sustainably,” Esther Wozniak, a senior manager with Pew’s international fisheries project, said in an analysis of the upcoming meeting.
Wozniak pointed out that Brazil has already been developing a management procedure for western Atlantic skipjack since 2020, and accounts for 90 percent of the catch of the stock – giving it a commercial interest in the sustainability of the resource.
“The options were presented to ICCAT scientists in September, and, because they keep catch stable and are based on comprehensive, robust testing, gained broad support,” Wozniak said. “Brazil has committed to proposing a final skipjack MP for adoption by ICCAT members at the November meeting. If that is adopted, it would clear a path for additional MPs for other tropical tunas – such as Atlantic yellowfin, bigeye and eastern Atlantic skipjack tuna – in 2026 and build on ICCAT’s adoption of an MP for north Atlantic swordfish last year, increasing momentum for using MPs.”
Along with a management procedure for skipjack, the ISSF is calling on ICCAT to enhance its observation coverage on longline vessels. Currently ICCAT calls for 10 percent observer coverage on vessels, which is better than some RFMOs but still worse than the 20 percent coverage the organization’s own scientists said is necessary for accurate data.
“It’s a level that has been identified as able to produce the reliable and accurate estimates of catch as well as estimates of bycatch species,” Koehler said. “Having better monitoring allows you to better manage the resources that are under the jurisdiction of different RFMOs, and also allows for verification of implementation or compliance with those measures.”
Koehler said in the “three-legged stool” of good fisheries management the RFMO needs good science, good data, and a way of assessing compliance with the rules it has implemented.
Good monitoring allows RFMOs to ensure that the rules they are setting are both being followed and working correctly. Observers can verify that gear type restrictions and things like bycatch mitigation devices are installed, and then can verify if those efforts are working.
“Without adequate monitoring, there are limits to being able to ensure those measures are being implemented effectively and fully on the water,” Koehler said.
Electronic monitoring, while not new, has advanced tremendously in recent years, and ICCAT could use the technology to enhance observer coverage. ICCAT adopted electronic monitoring standards in 2023, but Koehler said the next step is following through on using it as a means of enhancing observer coverage.
Koehler said another key issue for ICCAT is adopting a “fins naturally attached” policy. NGOs pushed for a similar policy in 2024, but ultimately China and Japan blocked efforts to strengthen a shark finning ban.
“Our organization is urging a simple fins naturally attached policy, no exceptions, no alternatives,” she said.
