Tuna Compliance Network Gathers in Tokyo After Three Years of Online Meetings
Tokyo, Japan - June 30, 2023 - WCPFC’s Compliance Manager Dr Lara Manarangi-Trott, and Assistant Compliance Manager Eidre Sharp recently returned from a highly successful meeting of the Tuna Compliance Network (TCN) in Tokyo from 27-30 June 2023.
This was the first in-person meeting of compliance managers from the five global tuna Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (tRFMO) since 2019.
The five tRFMO Secretariats share similar compliance monitoring activities to support their respective members such as for transshipment and port state requirements. Several RFMO members also manage fishing vessels that are active in multiple tRFMO areas, underpinning the need to understand shared interests and streamlined reporting processes.
As obligations in each of the tRFMO’s continue to increase annually, the respective Secretariats must be adaptive and innovative in their approaches to managing processes that can be complex and that produce high volumes of information and the associated required analyses. The TCN discussions allowed the respective tRFMO fisheries compliance practitioners to share their experiences with effective monitoring and handling of member’s data, with a view to strengthening collaboration among the Secretariats and identifying options for best practice support mechanisms.
Among the meeting outcomes was a commitment by TCN participants to develop an addendum to a recent TCN report providing a comparison of tuna RFMO compliance assessment processes (available at Tuna Compliance Network (TCN) | IMCS (imcsnet.org)). In addition, Dr. Manarangi-Trott completed her Chairmanship of the TCN in Tokyo and is succeeded by Jenny Cheatle of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT).
The meeting was coordinated by the International Monitoring, Control, and Surveillance (IMCS) Network and hosted by the Secretariat of the North Pacific Fisheries Commission.
For further information, please contact: wcpfc@wcpfc.int
About WCPFC
The Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) is one of five global tuna regional fisheries management organizations, responsible for the conservation and sustainable use of highly migratory fish stocks, particularly tuna, in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean. Established in 2004, the WCPFC comprises 34 member countries and territories, and seven cooperating-non-members dedicated to promoting the sustainable management of the world’s largest tuna fishery. The WCPFC Secretariat is headquartered in Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia.
About TCN
The Tuna Compliance Network (TCN) is made up of compliance managers from the Secretariats of the five tuna Regional Fisheries Management Organizations: The Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna, the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission, the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission, the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas, and the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission.