ISSF calls for better stock management and monitoring requirements

“Tuna is a vital commodity in this part of the world, but the complex and cumbersome measures currently in place are not as effective as they could be,” said ISSF president Susan Jackson. “Exemptions, optional clauses and combinations of measures that have not responded effectively to the clear scientific advice have made it more difficult to arrest overfishing; as a result, Pacific bluefin, North Pacific striped marlin, and bigeye tuna stocks are now overfished.”

ISSF urges the WCPFC to eliminate the exemptions and optional clauses in its tropical tuna management measure. To meet the objective of ending overfishing of the bigeye stock, ISSF urges the adoption of management measures that are effective and easier to enforce or a reduction in fishing effort. Limiting fishing days in the purse seine fishery to a lower level, ISSF says, will also maintain skipjack tuna within the range of candidate target reference points (TRPs).

ISSF also urges WCPFC to firmly define harvest strategies, TRPs and harvest control rules (HCRs) for skipjack, bigeye, yellowfin and South Pacific albacore tunas. ISSF supports the PNA proposal to set the target reference point for skipjack at 50% of the unfished biomass – thereby acting before the stock declines to an extent that makes such a decision much harder.

Regarding fish aggregating devices (FADs), ISSF welcomes the creation of a Working Group on FAD management options, which it participated in last week. Earlier this year, ISSF recommended that the Working Group hold an in-person meeting to make faster progress toward establishing the infrastructure needed for enhanced FAD data collection. ISSF is also urging the WCPFC to expand the information required from vessels to include data on FAD deployments, designs, equipment and identification marks.

To access the full position statement click here.