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ISSF highlights the relevance of setting stock-specific targets. (Foto: ISSF/YouTube)
MOROCCO
Ahead of the 18th Special Meeting of theInternational Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF) is urging ICCAT to establish stock-specific targets and limit reference points and to specify the probability levels to be associated with the recommendations from the 2011 framework.
The ICCAT meeting will be held next week in Agadir, Morocco.
ISSF supports the existence of controlling capacity for tropical tuna fisheries by slashing the amount of vessels operating so that the fleet size is commensurate with the stock assessments in the region, along with an expansion of the region’s observer coverage. Starting in January 2013, ICCAT will implement 100 per cent observer coverage during the two-month fish aggregating device (FAD) closure, but ISSF recommends that coverage extends over all of 2013.
“Implementing comprehensive observer coverage begins to address issues of transparency that threaten the sustainability of tuna fisheries,” said ISSF President Susan Jackson. “The Atlantic has improved observer coverage in its tuna fisheries recently but now nations need to make that next big push to 100 per cent coverage in its tropical purse seine fisheries.”
ISSF also urged nations to adopt a stronger FAD management policy to assure that related data are collected and reported to the ICCAT Standing Committee on Research and Statistics (SCRS), so scientists can better advise decision-makers on how to lower catches of small tunas and non-target species associated with FADs. This data can also greatly improve stock assessments.
“FAD fishing accounts for almost 40 per cent of global tuna catches, and the first meaningful step to a broad global effort to improve FAD management in all ocean regions is to collect better data in these fisheries,” Jackson added. “If Regional Fisheries Management Organisation (RFMO) scientists have ample data they can determine appropriate management measures, which ultimately leads to sound policy.”
Other improvements addressed in the ISSF position statement include mandated assessments for skipjack stocks, prohibitions on both the at-sea removal of shark fins and on the intentional purse seine setting around whale sharks and comprehensive catch and bycatch retention measures.
Related article:
– ISSF pushes for tuna conservation measures
By Natalia Real
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