What good are regulations if they’re not followed? Why adopt policies without a strong plan to monitor adherence to them?   In an era of greater expectations regarding transparency and accountability, these are the questions stakeholders are increasingly asking of regional fisheries management organizations (RFMOs) — the governing bodies that oversee many global fisheries resources. And for tuna fisheries, a vital, global food source and economic engine, those expectations are especially heightened. Now, a group of policy experts is stepping in to help tuna RFMOs continue strengtheni ..read more

In the days since the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) released its updated Red List of Threatened Species™, many colleagues have contacted ISSF to celebrate IUCN’s news that four tuna species were no longer classified as endangered (see details below). IUCN attributed the progress to countries enforcing sustainable fishing quotas and successfully combating illegal fishing, which are essential for protecting in-demand fish stocks and the marine ecosystem. In noting any improvements in tuna stock health, sustainable fishing stakeholders also should acknowledge tuna Regional ..read more

Science-led, collaborative efforts are the key to regional fisheries management organizations making progress on improved management of fish aggregating devices (FADs), including for the world’s busiest tuna fishing grounds in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean (WCPO). Two papers written jointly by scientists with the Oceanic Fisheries Programme of the Pacific Community (SPC) and the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF) present current regional research projects on FADs to better understand drifting FAD (dFAD) use and limit related ecosystem impacts. The papers are publish ..read more

Though fishing with fish aggregating devices (FADs, or more generally, floating objects) has been in practice for hundreds of years, the amount of FADs being used by purse seine vessels has increased steadily in the last two decades. In 2019, the last year for which we have complete data, FAD sets accounted for 38% of the more than 5 million tonnes of tropical tunas (bigeye, skipjack and yellowfin tuna) caught globally. For skipjack tuna, FAD sets accounted for 46% of the 3.2 million tonnes caught. Clearly, fishing on FADs is a crucial means of providing an important food s ..read more

Scientists, like almost everyone else, were forced to accept a new normal in 2020. We found ourselves sharing workspaces with our remote-learning children. Traveling much less often, as movement restrictions rendered certain projects downright unfeasible. And collaborating with colleagues virtually, rather than face-to-face—which meant missing some critically productive (and usually enjoyable) aspects of our work. But sustainability couldn’t wait for the old normal to return. We had to keep progressing, one way or another.  So we pressed on, altering our tactics to fit conditions beyond o ..read more

Mobula rays (manta and devil rays) are some of the ocean’s slowest-growing and most vulnerable species, and are facing global pressure from multiple threats, including bycatch in fisheries. However, there is hope for these charismatic giants: preliminary evidence suggests that the methods of capturing and handling Mobula rays in tuna fisheries varies widely, and that minor changes in operational practices could lead to major improvements for their survival. And by working together, conservation scientists, fisheries managers, and tuna fishers can make huge strides for these threatened species ..read more

A new report, “Minimum standards for designing and implementing Electronic Monitoring systems in Indian Ocean tuna fisheries,” co-authored by scientists from ISSF, AZTI-Tecnalia and the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC), was recently presented to the IOTC Scientific Committee as an important step in accelerating the use of electronic monitoring systems across Indian Ocean tuna fisheries. The paper seeks to help electronic monitoring systems (EMS) “be fully accepted as a data collection mechanism that provides independent observations of a scientific nature,” said report co-author F ..read more

COVID-19 blindsided everyone in 2020. Yet crisis can galvanize people and institutions to rise to meet challenges and be their “best selves.” In important ways, the global catastrophe of COVID-19 has indeed spurred information-sharing, problem-solving, and other essential collaboration across borders and oceans. In that spirit, we had hoped tuna regional fisheries management organizations (RFMOs) would have met their continuing fisheries-management responsibilities last year with even more urgency and commitment.  Undeniably, the pandemic complicated RFMOs’ already demanding conservation ..read more

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 20 ..read more

This year has tested all of us, including decision-makers at the Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (RFMOs) that manage commercial tuna stocks. All tuna RFMOs were forced to hold their annual meetings virtually or by correspondence, while some important meetings were canceled altogether. Working and negotiating in a virtual environment was a big adjustment for international bodies like RFMOs, and it stymied progress in 2020. In the face of these challenges, ISSF and its stakeholders made considered appeals to RFMOs — urging needed progress on tuna conservation, fish aggregating device ..read more