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An ICCAT Meeting To Remember

The November 2006 meeting of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) held in Dubrovnik , Croatia , was the most difficult meeting I have attended, and some say the most difficult in the history of the organization.

As ICCAT chair, I had hoped that a series of meetings held earlier in the year would have tempered this meeting, and brought some consensus among the ICCAT member nations on how to better manage fish stocks, especially bluefin tunas. Unfortunately, that was not to be.

On the agenda were conservation and management measures for eastern and western bluefin tuna, North and South Atlantic swordfish and blue and white marlin. We discussed all of them, and conducted a very thorough review of compliance issues.

The most difficult negotiation by far was eastern bluefin tuna. The scientific advisory body to ICCAT, called the Standing Committee for Research and Statistics (SCRS), strongly stated that the eastern bluefin tuna stock has a “high risk of fishery and stock collapse”. The management plan for 2006, which the U.S. opposed because it was too high, had a total allowable catch (TAC) of 32,000 metric tons. Estimates of actual catch wer much higher, near 50,000 metric tons.

Despite the SCRS' strong recommendations for a drastic reduction in catch, setting time/area closures during the spawning period, and instituting an increase in the minimum size, the European Community (EC) ignored their advice and put forward a woefully inadequate plan. The EC proposal allowed for 29,500 metric tons of catch that creeps down to 25,500 metric tons over the course of 4 years; had a time/area closure that did not cover the peak spawning month of June; and increased the minimum size to 30 kilograms, but allowed huge carve outs for undersize fish.

We made several interventions to point out the flaws in the management plan, but few changes were made. In fact, the final version even relaxed the minimum size in the Adriatic Sea to allow the take of more small fish. Another flaw in the EC proposal did not require ICCAT fishing nations to payback fish in future years if they overharvested.. The SCRS Chair clearly stated that this plan would not allow for rebuilding and would not stop overfishing.

The United States along with Norway , Canada , and France (on behalf of St. Pierre and Miquelon ) could not accept the EC proposal, and as chair, I called for an up or down vote on the EC proposal. For the first time in ICCAT history, a vote was held in Panel 2 (the subsidiary body where bluefin tuna and northern albacore are discussed). Unfortunately, the measure passed with 10 votes for, 4 votes against and 4 abstentions, clearly showing the lack of consensus on the proposal. The measure was adopted by the Commission.

I believe that this is grave news for the eastern Atlantic bluefin tuna stock, and has serious consequences for our western stock. Unless ICCAT can act to halt overfishing and begin rebuilding, the easterm Atlantic bluefin tuna stock could collapse. Not only is this species a key part of the ecosystem, it is a huge economic generator for the ICCAT fishing community. Its loss would be significant.

We have been doing much better with our management of the western bluefin tuna stock. At the recent meeting, the United States put forward a proposal to lower the TAC to 2100 metric tons, in line with scientific advice and to stop overfishing. In addition, we were able to increase the tolerance for recreational catches of bluefin tuna less than 30 kilograms, (our current minimum size) from 8 percent to 10 percent. Mexico requested an allocation of western bluefin tuna, but given the status of the stock, the United States , Japan , and Canada were reluctant to give Mexico any fish. In order to get consensus on the U.S. proposal, we agreed to transfer 175 metric tons of U.S. bluefin tuna underharvest (over the next two years) to Mexico , with the clear requirement that those fish could not be taken in the Gulf of Mexico . Under this strategy we were able to keep the U.S. current allocation. The proposal was adopted by the ICCAT Commission.

Other ICCAT Meeting Discussions

While bluefin tuna held center stage during the ICCAT meeting, we also managed to discuss concerns regarding the many other species under our management. The North Atlantic swordfish stock is considered nearly rebuilt (99% of Bmsy) by the SCRS. As a result of this good news, many of the member fishing nations made allocation requests this year. I was particularly worried about swordfish, because we have not been harvesting our allocation the past few years. There are several reasons, including the swordfish fishery's impact on endangered sea turtles. We could have lost a portion of our share, unused quota can be redistributed by ICCAT members, but we were able to maintain our current allocation. We did agree to transfer 2700 metric tons of any underharvest over the next two years to several different developing fishing nations. Japan also agreed to transfer its underharvests. We did express some reservation about setting up an allocation plan that set the TAC over the SCRS recommended catch level, but the ICCAT membership acknowledged that it was very unlikely participating fishing nations would all catch their full quota.

Blue and white marlins were also a discussion topic. Brazil proposed to roll over the primary provisions of the marlin rebuilding plan. Brazil included in the proposal a number of conservation enhancements developed in response to concerns and recommendations identified in the SCRS report on marlins. Of particular note, the Commission agreed to improve data collection and to cap artisianal fishing effort.

One of our biggest concerns over the years has been compliance with the rules that ICCAT adopts. Some of the most egregious compliance violations have come in the eastern bluefin tuna fishery. The United States tried to identify the EC and Libya under the ICCAT trade measures resolution for overharvests of bluefin tuna. However, we were unsuccessful.

Some good news from the meeting

The ICCAT Commission restored the entire bigeye tuna quota to Chinese Taipei. This followed a year of hard work by Chinese Taipei fishery managers to address many concerns raised last year by ICCAT members. Many of the members praised Chinese Taipei for the remarkable effort they made to comply with the 2005 directive to reduce fleet capacity, ensure compliance by the remaining fleet and investigate illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing activities by its nationals. The ICCAT Commission also passed a new recommendation that requires Chinese Taipei to continue periodic reports on its compliance activities through 2007.

There were several other proposals adopted including one on transshipment at sea, the establishment of a working group on fishing capacity and a working group on monitoring/compliance and inspection schemes.

Links:

International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas

ICCAT News Release