Fifty-two Atlantic fishing nations, including Canada, gathered last month in Dubrovnik, Croatia for the annual meeting of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT). This international fishery management body is responsible for managing Atlantic migratory species such as tuna and swordfish, along with the impacts the fisheries have on other species including sharks, sea turtles, marine mammals and seabirds.
The 2018 talks were difficult and contentious and ended up stalled on most topics. Countries secured just one major agreement, a management plan for Eastern Atlantic bluefin tuna. They even walked away from the meeting without agreed measures for threatened species including shortfin mako sharks, sea turtles and marine mammals. Species specific decision details can be found below.
The meeting was attended by Shannon Arnold, SeaChoice representative and marine program senior coordinator for the Ecology Action Centre (EAC). She called the meeting disastrous. “The inability of countries to come together on fishing management and strong conservation measures has serious implications for the health of our ecosystem, food security and fishing livelihoods,” Arnold said.
So where do we go from here? This year’s meeting was incredibly challenging, but the failure of the world’s governments to take action against the overfishing of tunas and sharks highlights why SeaChoice and its partner organisations must continue to engage.
SeaChoice partner organization EAC has been the only Canadian civil society group to attend ICCAT, and has has been an official ENGO observer at the meetings for almost a decade. The EAC attends to help ensure transparency and conservation consideration in decision making about the world’s shared marine resources. EAC stands ready to continue to advocate for the Western bluefin tuna, North Atlantic swordfish, bigeye tuna, shortfin mako shark, blue shark, loggerhead and leatherback sea turtles – all of which are fished or caught as bycatch in significant numbers by Canada’s ICCAT fleets.
Species specific decisions
Bluefin tuna:
The only new fishery management agreement reached at ICCAT 2018 was on Eastern bluefin tuna, a plan met with much criticism from conservation groups for the sheer number of loopholes built in. It allows an increase in fishing and ranching capacity for most countries without reinforced monitoring and enforcement measures. This is the opposite of the proposal that was tabled at the beginning of the week. Ongoing illegal trade, and data showing increasing evidence of mixing between Western and Eastern bluefin populations, mean such risky management decisions will undermine efforts to rebuild the population our Canadian fisheries rely on.
Bigeye tuna:
The main focus of this year’s meeting was attempting to reach an agreement to halt overfishing of bigeye tuna. Scientists advise populations will collapse by 2033 without an immediate cut to allowed quota and the huge number of juvenile bigeye being caught in skipjack tuna fisheries. Bigeye tuna are the backbone of a billion dollar global industry and are also caught in Canada’s longline and rod and reel fisheries.
The commission ended with the collapse of talks and no new agreement to manage the fishery. Arnold observed that, ultimately, it was a deadlock between developed and developing countries due to the inequities underpinning global fishing agreements. “Developed countries responsible for past overfishing are insisting on keeping their access to fish anywhere in the ocean,” said Arnold, “while, developing countries are now asserting their internationally recognized rights to fish and develop their economy.”
Sharks:
ICCAT failed to address continued overfishing of mako sharks or strengthen the regional ban on shark finning. The shortfin mako is one of the world’s most economically valuable sharks, sought for meat, fins, and sport. This oceanic species is fished by many nations around the globe but is not subject to international fishing quotas. The fisheries body – after learning their previous management measure had not stopped North Atlantic mako overfishing – took no action to protect the population from future collapse, ignoring scientists’ recommended ban on North Atlantic mako retention to rebuild the population. To add insult to injury, Japan, China and Korea blocked a proposal from 26 ICCAT Parties to strengthen the existing ban on finning (slicing off a shark’s fins and discarding the body at sea).
