The purpose of this document is to explore means of implementing, with respect to tuna, the International Plan of Action for the Management of Fishing Capacity (adopted by the FAO Committee on Fisheries in 1999). The motivation for preparing it was the growing concern of nations and international tuna organizations that as the fishing capacity of tuna fleets grow, it will become increasingly more difficult to initiate and sustain effective measures to manage and conserve tuna resources. Because most stocks of tuna, with the exception of skipjack, are nearly fully exploited or overexploited, and a growing fleet capacity can cause adverse economic disruptions in the international market for tunas, the document is timely and its subject matter is of critical importance.
