On Tuesday 23 November, after eight days, the 27th meeting of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) endorsed a new recovery plan for the North Atlantic shortfin mako shark population from 2022.
The aim of these measures, which have been under discussion for the past 4 years, is to immediately stop overfishing and gradually reach “biomass levels sufficient to support maximum sustainable yield (MSY) by 2070, with a probability of at least 60-70%. The total fishing mortality has been set at a maximum of 250 tonnes until further scientific advice is provided to ICCAT”, says a statement from the regional fisheries organisation.
The European Commission welcomed the adoption of the shortfin mako shark programme and said that a two-year retention ban on shortfin mako will come into effect to immediately stop overfishing and reduce mortality. In addition, the plan contains complementary measures (best practices to increase the survivability of bycatch, and a scientific process to explore a range of measures, from spatial and temporal closures, to fishing gear modification in the future).
Disappointing for tropical tunas. But the EU is very disappointed with what has been agreed on tropical tuna: the extension of the current temporary measures until 2022 and a last-minute compromise proposal for a 72-day closure of fish aggregating devices (FADs) at the beginning of 2022 and a ‘minor increase’ of the total allowable catch to 62,000 tonnes. The EU expects more ambitious measures for tropical tuna to be adopted in 2023.
The EU put forward an ambitious proposal which included setting the total allowable catch (TAC) for bigeye tuna, “reflecting the improvement in the situation of the stock, the reallocation of fishing opportunities to developing coastal states to secure a more equitable distribution of fishing opportunities, better management of fishing capacity, the management of FADs and also improvement monitoring, control and surveillance measures of the fisheries”.
In 2022, a new stock assessment of bluefin tuna in the Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean will be carried out. The TAC for 2022 remains at 36,000 tonnes, while the TAC for 2023 is to be decided at the annual ICCAT meeting in 2022.
ICCAT has also adopted a recovery programme for Mediterranean longfin tuna, which will start in 2022 and continue until 2036.
For the North Atlantic longfin tuna stock, it was decided to set a TAC of 37 801 tonnes for the period 2022-2023.
The management measures for Atlantic swordfish and blue shark have been renewed and the TACs for 2022 have been maintained at the 2021 level.
In addition, the EU candidate, Ernesto Peñas Lado, was elected as the new Chair of ICCAT. He replaces Raúl Delgado of Panama in this position.
EU professionals disappointed. In a press release (https://bit.ly/3l72HA7 ), the professional organisation Europêche expressed its disappointment with the decisions taken by ICCAT, including the TAC of 62,000 tonnes for bigeye tuna (an increase to 75,000 tonnes had been requested) and the maintenance of the closure of fish aggregating devices (FADs), "albeit slightly reduced", emphasised Javier Garat, president of Europêche.
Link to ICCAT press release: https://bit.ly/32oUO2t (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)