July 1, 2016 — This week, the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission is meeting near San Diego to consider new measures to regulate the Eastern Pacific’s fishery. At this year’s gathering, the Commission faces an unusual request: the delegation from Ecuador’s tuna industry – the largest in the region – has called for a “global ban” on tuna fishing.
The delegation, comprised of the leaders of Ecuador’s chamber of fishing and several fishing industry executives, says that existing Eastern Pacific catch targets have been met, and it is time for Asian tuna fisheries to take up similar measures.
The Commission does not have members in the Western Pacific, and if adopted, the Ecuadorian petition would be largely symbolic. The Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission, a separate body, coordinates fisheries in the South Pacific islands and in Asia.