WELCOME TO BILL'S CORNER!

Dear Constituents,

Next month in Louisiana's great city of New Orleans, NOAA Fisheries will host the 14th special meeting of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas. This is the first time the United States will host the commission, which came into being in 1969. The meeting runs from November 15th to the 21st.

Made up of 62 countries including the United States, the commission is responsible for the conservation of tunas and tuna-like species – such as billfish and swordfish – in the Atlantic Ocean and adjacent seas. United States participation in international fisheries management efforts is critical for the conservation of important fish stocks and for the preservation of fair fishing opportunities for Americans.

I'd like to talk a little bit about a significant problem that we have been addressing through our membership in ICCAT and other international organizations. In recent years, there has been a growing trend worldwide of fishing activities by vessels that do not follow applicable laws and regulations. Examples include the reflagging of fishing vessels to evade controls and the failure to report (or to misreport) catches.

The term "illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing" – or IUU fishing – is often used to describe this kind of activity. These irresponsible fishing activities pose a significant threat to the effective conservation and management of fish stocks, causing many adverse consequences for fisheries and for the communities that depend on them.

This year, the United States finalized its national plan of action to address IUU fishing. The Department of State coordinated this effort, working with NOAA, the Coast Guard, and other federal agencies. The plan was first made available for public comment in 2003. Now your comments have been considered and addressed, and the final plan is available as an important tool for our use.

IUU fishing has implications for the quality of scientific data collection, the problem of bycatch, and the safety of other vessels.

I am proud to say that our laws and regulations are among the strongest, most comprehensive and best enforced in the world. But IUU fishing has serious implications for law-abiding fishermen in the United States, particularly since the stocks managed by ICCAT are migratory and share the same waters with fishing vessels from other nations. The United States has been – and will continue to be – among the leaders of the international community in efforts to eliminate IUU fishing. ICCAT has already taken significant steps to address the threat of IUU fishing, including mandatory international vessel registries and a trade sanction process to penalize nations that allow their vessels to participate in IUU fishing. Building on this progress will be one of our major efforts at ICCAT this year.

Another big issue for us this year will be continuing the effort to develop effective integrated management strategies for Atlantic bluefin tuna. For years we have known that the eastern and western stocks of bluefin tuna intermix, but research is showing that the level of mixing is significantly higher than previously thought. The management approach to bluefin tuna needs to incorporate more biological realism to ensure our fishermen are treated fairly and that bluefin tuna throughout the Atlantic is sustainably managed over the long term.

This year we will be developing a plan to guide the next steps of the working group looking at this issue. Given the poor state of data relative to the eastern fishery, we will also be looking at ways to improve data collection and reporting for eastern bluefin tuna this November.

I should also mention that ICCAT has been giving increasing attention to sharks in recent years. This fall, ICCAT will be considering the results of stock assessments for blue sharks and shortfin makos and weighing the need for additional action on sharks. The United States will play an active part in these discussions.

Since the commission meeting is closed to the public, we'll post a press release immediately after it ends to inform you of any major decisions or issues that arise.

International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas

NOAA Fisheries’ International Division