During its annual meeting this month, the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) reframed management measures for yellowfin tuna following a determination that the species’ stock health has improved.Industry representatives welcomed the decision, but conservationists are urging caution, citing the long history of yellowfin overfishing and the difficulties in monitoring and curbing overexploitation.The IOTC also moved on regulating the swordfish fishery in the Indian Ocean by determining enforceable catch limits for members.Manta and devil rays are especially at risk in tuna fisheries; the IOTC adopted guidelines for their handling and release to reduce bycatch mortality.
An annual meeting of the regulatory body overseeing the tuna fishery across the Indian Ocean has agreed to update the rules governing one of the region’s most iconic species: yellowfin tuna.
The easing of fishing curbs can be traced to the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission’s (IOTC) scientific body finding that Thunnus albacares stocks aren’t overfished, nor are they currently experiencing overfishing in the Indian Ocean. The body first made the determination in 2024, but the finding underwent an internal review process before being accepted by the commission at its recent meeting in the Maldives. The meeting held in May was attended by delegates from coastal nations in Asia, Africa and Oceania, as well as distant-water fishing powers like Japan and the European Union.
