The International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF) is calling for urgent and immediate steps to reduce catch of yellowfin tuna in the Indian Ocean.
Ahead of the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission’s (IOTC) annual meeting on May 16 – 20, the foundation has published a position statement urging action on reducing catch of both yellowfin tuna and skipjack, better management of fish aggregating devices (FAD), an increased focus on electronic monitoring and an amendment to the existing shark fin resolution.
“Although the IOTC ultimately agreed on a new rebuilding measure for yellowfin tuna in 2021, the effectiveness of that measure is uncertain given the number of commission members that objected to it,” said ISSF president Susan Jackson.
“And it’s not just yellowfin that are of concern. Catches of skipjack tuna in 2020 were higher than the annual catch limits set by the IOTC harvest control rule,” she added.
Specifically, ISSF is calling on IOTC to:
- Adopt revisions to ensure the effective rebuilding of yellowfin tuna by reducing catches by at least 22% relative to the 2020 catch level; and address over-catches in contravention of specific IOTC resolutions
- Ensure that catches of skipjack in 2022 do not exceed the limit set by the adopted harvest control rule
- Adopt a bigeye tuna management procedure, and agree on permanent limit and target reference points for tropical and temperate tunas, particularly yellowfin
- Strengthen (FAD) management measures
- Endorse the terms of references and work plan developed by the IOTC ad-hoc Working Group and accelerate work on electronic monitoring program standards
- Amend the resolution to require fins naturally attached for sharks, irrespective of how they are landed
