Saving Seafood

Pacific bluefin tuna quotas soar by 80 percent in 2025

October 11, 2024 — According to NOAA Fisheries, commercial Pacific bluefin tuna fishermen in the United States will be able to harvest nearly 80 percent more tuna in 2025-2026, thanks to new catch limits set by the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission. The decision, made in September, follows an encouraging stock assessment by the International Scientific Committee for Tuna and Tuna-Like Species, which found the Pacific bluefin population rebuilt a decade ahead of schedule. This increase offers a major boost for U.S. commercial and recreational fisheries, particularly in Southern California, after years of strict conservation efforts.

The Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission increased catch limits during a meeting in Panama in early September.

U.S. fishermen harvest Pacific bluefin tuna using hook-and-line, purse seine, and drift gillnet gear and land their catch mainly in Southern California ports. Additionally, increases in commercial catch limits will benefit recreational anglers who also catch Pacific bluefin off Southern California. The Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission resolution that increased commercial catches also called for consistent management of sport fishing.

In 2022, U.S. commercial fishers harvested 368 metric tons, or more than 800,000 pounds, of Pacific bluefin tuna. They earned more than $2.2 million for the catch. The 2-year catch limit for 2025–26 is increasing almost 80 percent, to 1,822 metric tons from 1,017 in 2023–24. That means the U.S. fleet can bring more Pacific bluefin tuna to the docks and seafood markets. This would be a welcome change for captains, crew, and seafood distributors after more than a decade of belt-tightening in the fishery.

Read the full article at NOAA Fisheries

Pew study finds tuna secured via transshipment is a USD 10.4 billion industry globally

September 19, 2024 — A recently published study performed by The Pew Charitable Trusts found that tuna transshipment within regional fishery management organization (RFMO)-managed fisheries represents as much as a quarter of all tuna sales globally.

The study looked at data collected by RFMOs like the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) and the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC) on transshipment from 2012 to 2018. According to Pew, in 2018, 1.4 million metric tons (MT) of tuna were transshipped in 2018, with a total value of roughly USD 10.4 billion (EUR 9.3 billion).

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

IATTC adopts electronic monitoring standards, improvements to compliance processes

September 12 2024 —  The Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission has established new minimum standards for electronic monitoring on fishing vessels in a move that sustainability-focused NGOs are celebrating as a win.

The commission met for its annual meeting from 2 to 6 September amid calls for increased vessel monitoring from NGOs including Pew and the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation. Those calls were in part heeded, as the commission adopted new minimum standards for electronic vessel monitoring for the Eastern Pacific high seas fishing fleet.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

NGOs express disappointment after IATTC fails to advance tuna conservation measure

August 31, 2021 — A weeklong Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC) meeting, held to advance the commission’s protection of bigeye, yellowfin, and skipjack tuna stocks in the Eastern Pacific Ocean, has failed deliver any such conservation measure.

With the IATTC unable to reach consensus, discussions on the measure roll over to its next virtual meeting, scheduled to take place on 18 October.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

ISSF: Eastern Pacific Ocean tuna fisheries can’t wait for COVID to end before action is taken

August 23, 2021 — Eastern Pacific Ocean fisheries managers must ensure that effective management measures are promptly put in place for bigeye, yellowfin, and skipjack tuna stocks when the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC) meets later this month, insists the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF).

In 2020, the IATTC conducted new assessments of bigeye and yellowfin tuna, which found that while yellowfin remains healthy, there was a 53 percent probability that bigeye is overfished and a 50 percent probability that overfishing was occurring.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Tackling Tuna Conservation and Management Measures During the Global Pandemic

March 30, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

The past year posed significant logistical challenges for multilateral organizations charged with the management and conservation of tunas and other highly migratory fish stocks. They had to adapt to new formats to make critical decisions on the sustainable management of these stocks. The shift to virtual meetings and email-based decision processes caused these organizations to streamline the number of issues they worked on. This allowed decisions to be made that ensured the continuity of management for key fish stocks, by extending many management measures set to expire in 2020.

The United States is a member of several regional fisheries management organizations. Three of them are responsible for the conservation and management of tuna and tuna-like stocks. These organizations are often where dozens of countries and fishing entities come together to discuss and develop international fisheries management measures. They set the rules for how, and how much, fish can be caught, frequently through challenging—and previously in-person–multilateral negotiations.

Through these organizations, the United States promotes the long-term sustainability of fish stocks through science-based management. We work to ensure that new measures are fair and equitable to U.S. stakeholders.

Read the full release here

Technology Can Improve Safety and Security for Observers on Fishing Vessels

February 23, 2021 — The following was released by Pew Charitable Trusts:

The eastern Pacific Ocean is home to valuable tuna fisheries worth more than $5 billion each year.  These stocks are managed by the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC), which is responsible for ensuring the sustainable management of tunas and other marine species, as well as enforcing rules to end and prevent illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing.

Transshipment is a key part of the seafood supply chain in which catch is transferred from a fishing vessel to a carrier vessel that then takes it to port, but management of transshipment is rife with loopholes, and IUU-caught fish can easily slip through the cracks.

For years, onboard fisheries observers have been the primary source of independent information on at-sea activity, collecting data on catch, transshipment, and more, and reporting rules violations and potential IUU activity to domestic authorities and regional fisheries management organizations (RFMOs) such as IATTC. But serving as an onboard observer is a risky job, and the casualty rate on fishing vessels is notoriously high. Observers can be at sea for months at a time, often without quick access to medical care or assistance if they are in a threatening situation.

Last year, MRAG Americas, a fisheries-focused consultancy, with support from The Pew Charitable Trusts and the Walmart Foundation, deployed a new model of two-way satellite communications devices to several IATTC transshipment observers to improve real-time exchanges of information and, hopefully, help observers feel more secure onboard vessels.

Read the full release here

IATTC agrees to rollover tropical tuna quotas to 2021

December 22, 2020 — The Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC) agreed at a special session on 22 December to a rollover of its existing quotas for tropical tuna in the eastern Pacific for 2021.

The tropical tuna fishery – which includes bigeye, yellowfin, and skipjack tuna stocks – brings in billions of dollars’ worth of fish annually. At its annual meeting earlier this month, the commission failed to reach a consensus on the management of tropical tunas by one vote – with Colombia opposing the resolution – leaving tuna fisheries without any rules of governance starting on 1 January.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

ISSF Statement: IATTC Emergency Commission Meeting

December 22, 2020 — The following was released by the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation:

The action by IATTC at its emergency Commission meeting held on December 22 — a meeting and decision that ISSF and its stakeholders called for earlier this month — keeps crucial “status quo” fishing effort and catch limit provisions and active FAD limits in place for 2021. This decision ensures that the valuable tuna resources and the marine ecosystems of the Eastern Pacific Ocean (EPO) will not be unmanaged for 2021. And it gives the Commission an opportune period to develop and adopt new comprehensive tuna management measures for 2022, including science-based limits on FADs and floating objects (e.g., active numbers, sets, deployments, etc.), that fully implement scientific advice.

ISSF calls on IATTC parties to work collaboratively throughout next year to hold detailed, inclusive discussions that will lead to decisive and science-based action for the protection of EPO tuna stocks and their marine ecosystems. Regardless of meeting format in 2021, ISSF will pursue all opportunities to help guide IATTC and all tuna RFMOs, member governments, industry, vessels, FIPs and NGOs on the complex issues they must navigate for sustainable global tuna stocks and their ecosystems.

About the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation

The International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF) is a global coalition of scientists, the tuna industry and World Wildlife Fund (WWF) — the world’s leading conservation organization — promoting science-based initiatives for the long-term conservation and sustainable use of tuna stocks, reducing bycatch and promoting ecosystem health. Helping global tuna fisheries meet sustainability criteria to achieve the Marine Stewardship Council certification standard — without conditions — is ISSF’s ultimate objective. To learn more, visit iss-foundation.org  and follow ISSF on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and LinkedIn.

WCPFC secures consensus to continue tropical tuna measure

December 16, 2020 — The 27 members of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) have approved the rollover of the tropical tuna measure for bigeye, skipjack, and yellowfin tuna, which without a consensus would have expired in February 2021.

The move by the WCPFC is in contrast with the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC), which failed to reach a consensus on regulations, leaving the fishery unmanaged beginning 1 January, 2021. The renewal by the WCPFC is considered a victory, but the Pacific Islands Forum’s Fisheries Forum Agency (FFA) said much work remains left to be tackled at next year’s tuna commission.

Read the full story at Seafood Source