SEAFOODNEWS.COM [SCOM] by Claire van der Geest and Jerry Scott — June 16, 2014 — While the 2013 meeting of the IOTC was marked by the adoption of a number of conservation and management resolutions, IOTC Members appeared reluctant to take similar strong conservation and management actions at this year’s 18th Session in Colombo, Sri Lanka. All significant conservation and management proposals were deferred until the 19th Session to be hosted by the Republic of Korea in April 2015.
A strong win for the Commission – and for tuna sustainability from ISSF’s perspective – was the agreement to implement a mandatory requirement for IMO numbers on eligible fishing vessels. A limited requirement for IMO numbers was adopted in 2013, but some IMO-eligible vessels were not obligated to obtain them. The resolution adopted this year ensures that all fishing vessels that are greater than 24 meters and eligible to obtain an IMO number must do so. This is a significant step toward further combating IUU fishing. Three of the four tropical tuna RFMOs have now implemented this requirement, ensuring that tuna fishing vessels are traceable throughout the world’s oceans.
Another win is the Parties commitment to a series of workshops for science-management dialogue. Three workshops are planned, and they aim to support the development of an integrated management regime for the regions tuna resources including, for example, the use of harvest control rules. This positive action represents a further step toward adoption of harvest control rules (HCRs) for Indian Ocean stocks.
Also of note was the first formal workshop, open to all CPCs, on the topic of HCRs and reference points held in advance of this year’s Commission meeting. The workshop discussed IOTC’s work in this vein, placing such efforts within the context of the Precautionary Approach to fisheries management, which the IOTC is working to implement for the long-term sustainability of the resource and the fishery. Most of the discussion was specific to Resolution 13-10, which will need explicit definitions of certain key elements that will be developed through future workshops.
A further notable outcome this year is the adoption of administrative measures, including amendments to the Rules of Procedure that is the culmination of two years work for IOTC. By streamlining the IOTC Resolutions, Recommendations and Rules of Procedure, the Commission is enabling and supporting members’ compliance with conservation and management measures and facilitating continual improvement of the IOTC itself.
This year’s meeting also marked the start of positive dialogue on FAD management. In response to an increase in FAD fishing and questions about the impact of increasingly efficient purse seine fishing on overall capacity, IOTC delegates debated appropriate mechanisms to manage FAD fishing. While no agreement could be reached on a particular precautionary mechanism for managing the growth of this gear, renewed calls for analysis of FAD management plan data echoed between delegations in order to guide development of appropriate mechanisms at next year’s Commission meeting.
Finally, we were pleased to see an increase in compliance with IOTC obligations, particularly by those parties that received a Compliance Support Mission during the intercessional period. It was disappointing, however, that despite the open acknowledgment by members for the need for strong and continued compliance improvement, a proposal for a Compliance Working Group or a study into the potential for centralized VMS was not supported by the majority of members.
We were pleased to see the IOTC membership grow with the accession of Somalia to the IOTC Agreement and the endorsement of Djibouti as a Cooperating non-Contracting Party. We also applaud the IOTC endorsement of a second performance review and look forward to working with the other representatives on the performance review panel.
These steps are solid strides forward on some critical issues for sustainable fisheries management, especially regarding managing capacity and combating IUU activities. But when it comes to the numerous, equally important tuna conservation issues that were on the table, this 18th Session accomplished little more than create the need for significant intercessional work in preparation for 2015 and beyond.
For example, IOTC Parties were unable to agree on amendments to further prohibit discarding of all fish and sharks from all purse seine vessels, nor could they agree on a recommendation that fishing gears other than purse seine vessels retain their tuna catches. There was, unfortunately, strong opposition again to the adoption of binding measures to prohibit the catch and retention of vulnerable hammerhead and silky sharks, as well as opposition to a non-binding recommendation promoting the retention of shark fins until the first point of landing.
Going forward, ISSF will continue to work with all IOTC parties during the intercessional period in preparation for next year’s 19th Session and in support of our strategic commitment to vigorously advocate for the adoption and implementation of science-based management measures so that tuna stocks and their ecosystem are managed comprehensively and sustainably.
The following story appeared on Seafoodnews.com, a subscription site. It has been reprinted with permission