The European Union succeeded in securing a number of key conservation measures adopted at the recent meeting of the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC), the European Commission said on Wednesday 23 April (see EUROPE 13625/9).
For the very first time, all major tropical tuna in the IOTC have specific catch limits (total allowable catches, or TACs). The binding catch limits for yellowfin tuna, bigeye tuna and now skipjack tuna marks “a major step to ensure that the tropical tuna fishery in the IOTC is sustainable”, according to the Commission.
Skipjack tuna also benefits from a quota: the major fishing parties(such as the EU, Indonesia and the Maldives) will now have their own binding catch limits, to ensure the long-term sustainability of this fishery. At the same time, other countries that wish to develop their fisheries are encouraged to do it in a responsible manner, with the goal of maintaining catches to sustainable levels before being allocated their own catch limit.
The EU and Japan have submitted a proposal, validated by the IOTC, to increase the TAC for bigeye tuna by 15%, in line with scientific advice.
The European Union has welcomed the recovery of the yellowfin tuna stock: the latest assessment estimates that this species is no longer overfished. This positive development is a result of the rebuilding plan adopted by the IOTC in 2021. The IOTC Scientific Committee has recommended that no hasty decisions should be taken on stock management or any increase in catches before an additional review of existing data is carried out later in the year. The IOTC has therefore decided to postpone any decision on the yellowfin tuna TAC until next year.
A major achievement was the adoption by the IOTC of the EU’s proposal to reduce the mortality of shortfin mako shark. The new measure requires the release of all live specimens immediately, thus significantly reducing mortality rates.
Although the EU proposal to introduce the principle of ‘fins naturally attached’ (on shark fishing) could not be adopted as such due to renewed opposition from certain countries, improvements have been achieved in controlling the practice of finning.
To see the measures adopted: https://aeur.eu/f/gi9 (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)