Protect Atlantic Tunas With Long-Term Strategies
Brazil Could Lead the Way to More Effective and Sustainable Management
More skipjack is caught than any other tuna species in the world, making it incredibly important to food security and livelihoods. Just the skipjack fisheries in the Atlantic Ocean alone are worth more than $1 billion, with western Atlantic skipjack accounting for over 6 per cent of that value. When the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) meets 17-24 November in Seville, Spain, it has the opportunity to modernize how this fishery is managed to maintain its long-term health and stability and show that it is on track to fulfill its mandate on science-based, precautionary management.
This new approach is known as a management procedure (MP) in which governments agree on benchmarks to determine future changes in the allowed catch. So if a fish population is healthy, catch levels can stay the same or even increase. And if the population drops to an unhealthy level, limits go down. These benchmarks remove the need for annual catch negotiations and make management more transparent and predictable. And because MPs help stabilize fish populations, they’re good business.
An MP for western Atlantic skipjack would be the first for a tropical tuna in the Atlantic and could lead to ecolabel certifications, which can help consumers know that the fish they purchase is managed sustainably.
Brazil is leading the charge for stronger science-based management
Brazil has been developing an MP for the western Atlantic skipjack fishery since 2020. Because the nation accounts for over 90 per cent of the catch for this stock, it has a commercial interest in maintaining sustainability. Scientists have collaborated closely with stakeholders, including fishers and civil society, to develop MP options that could be effective even under environmental variability, such as climate change. The options were presented to ICCAT scientists in September, and, because they keep catch stable and are based on comprehensive, robust testing, gained broad support. Brazil has committed to proposing a final skipjack MP for adoption by ICCAT members at the November meeting. If that is adopted, it would clear a path for additional MPs for other tropical tunas – such as Atlantic yellowfin, bigeye and eastern Atlantic skipjack tuna – in 2026 and build on ICCAT’s adoption of an MP for north Atlantic swordfish last year, increasing momentum for using MPs.
The Atlantic bluefin tuna MP is working
Atlantic bluefin tuna management is also on the docket of the November meeting. An MP, adopted in 2022, established catch limits from 2023 to 2025 for bluefin tuna in the western Atlantic and the eastern Atlantic, which have markedly different population sizes and levels of fishing pressure. Major improvements to bluefin’s management in the late 2010s helped to recover the tuna from near collapse, and this MP has supported continued growth of both populations since. This year, the Commission is scheduled to use the MP to set updated fishing limits for all catch – including commercial, recreational and discards – for the next management cycle starting in 2026.
But ICCAT scientists could not reach consensus on whether to use the existing MP or an alternative that is based on new scientific information about the size of the western-spawning population. The Commission must now decide between the two, but whichever path it follows, the MP must deliver on governments’ previous commitments to – and mandate for – sustainability.
ICCAT’s oversight of Atlantic fisheries has improved significantly over the last decade, as has the health and stability of these fisheries. Governments can solidify their commitment to sustainable management by adopting a new MP for skipjack and MP-based catch limits for bluefin tuna, ensuring that the two species remain at healthy levels into the future.
Esther Wozniak works with The Pew Charitable Trusts’ international fisheries project.
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