Independent, multi-stakeholder group, the Global Tuna Alliance (GTA), has welcomed what it calls the “first steps” made at the 29th session of the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) on 13-17 April 2025 to address critical labour welfare issues in Indian Ocean tuna fisheries.
Representing supply chain partners such as Carrefour, Lidl France and Princes, GTA has called on IOTC delegates to demonstrate greater urgency in setting labour standards at future sessions and for global retailers and tuna buyers to support fleets that proactively implement their own crew welfare measures throughout what it expects to be an extended IOTC development process.
One of the GTA partners’ modest goals for the session was for the IOTC to initiate the development of draft standards drawn from international frameworks such as the ILO188 convention as a necessary response to reported widespread human rights abuses in Indian Ocean tuna fisheries. Despite disappointing resistance from some IOTC members, the alliance was pleased that the Commission responded positively to a proposal by the European Union and tasked the Secretariat with benchmarking the current Indian Ocean labour standards.
It is expected the results of this study will inform the tasking of a working group by the Commission in 2026.
Dr Wetjens Dimmlich, who represented GTA’s partners at the IOTC meeting, said: “I am greatly encouraged that the members of the Commission have taken this important first step by tasking the Secretariat with benchmarking existing labour standards across the IOTC area. This initiative marks a clear recognition of the need to address crew welfare more systematically. I’m optimistic that this study will lay a strong foundation for the development of a future IOTC measure that ensures decent working conditions for all those who work at sea. GTA Partners now have an important role to play in acknowledging and rewarding those fleets that proactively implement their own measures during the likely extended IOTC development process.”
GTA noted a number of IOTC members, who are also members of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC), will be “stepping in their own footprints on this journey” after adopting minimum crew conditions in 2024. It said it will look to those members to continue to provide the leadership they have demonstrated in the Pacific.
Dimmlich also acknowledged the significance of a benchmarking study, noting that “by taking just these first steps and initiating this critical conversation and process, the IOTC has demonstrated its commitment to socially responsible tuna supply chains. This clear indication of intent is important to the GTA partners, which source tuna from this region.”
In addition to the challenges faced on labour standards, GTA said it was surprised by the lack of traction over many years of effort on other critical sustainability issues, with negotiations on skipjack catch limits taking an excessive amount of delegates’ time away from other issues.
This highlights the need by the Commission to develop mutually agreed allocation mechanisms for skipjack and other tuna species, it said, adding that it was encouraged by the agreement on a new timeframe through to 2027 to develop these mechanisms.
However, uncertainty surrounding the recent yellowfin tuna stock assessment “unfortunately undermined progress on other key yellowfin tuna management issues”, the alliance said, with proposals on catch limits being deferred until reviews of the stock assessment data and methods have been completed and updated Scientific Committee advice provided in December.
The development of a yellowfin tuna management procedure (harvest strategy) was also delayed, with key processes seemingly stalled until the questions on the assessment are resolved. According to GTA, these persistent issues underscore the need for stronger market pressure and broader industry participation in promoting and rewarding responsible fisheries management.
“The recent IOTC meeting has shown that regional fisheries management organisations can respond, albeit slowly and somewhat reluctantly, to changes in the world around them,” GTA Executive Director Daniel Suddaby said. “But the market has the power to be the catalyst for accelerating that change. That’s why the Global Tuna Alliance exists: to unify responsible retailers and tuna buyers around a common vision of tuna fisheries and ecosystems that are healthy and resilient as a result of responsible supply chains and best practice management. Our Partners are already driving transformation, but they can’t do it alone. We call upon other retailers and tuna buyers worldwide to stand with them — join the GTA and help lead the change our oceans and people so urgently need.”
