Strong demand for tuna brings economic benefits, food and jobs to millions of people, but also puts a lot of pressure on tuna stocks. The Common Oceans Tuna project aims to ensure that tunas are fished more sustainably by mobilizing a global partnership in support of responsible tuna fisheries management and the conservation of biodiversity in the ocean areas beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ).

Tuna and tuna like species account for 20 percent of the entire value of the world’s marine capture fisheries. The total amount generated by these fish is estimated at over USD 10 billion annually, which supports the livelihoods of thousands of communities worldwide. Tunas travel vast distances, passing through both exclusive economic zones (EEZs) of coastal developing states and Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and the so called “high seas”, also known as areas beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ). The strong demand for tuna, combined with excessive fishing, is one of the reasons that have caused stocks to decline and have left fisheries unable to reach optimal catches. This creates a challenge for the 85 countries that fish for tuna and jointly manage these fisheries through tuna Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (t RFMOs). The main objective of this project one of four projects making up the Global Environment Facility financed Program on Global Sustainable Fisheries Management and Biodiversity Conservation in ABNJ was to achieve sustainable and efficient tuna fisheries production and biodiversity conservation in the ABNJ by targeting three specific issues: ( i ) declines in tuna fisheries resources due to insufficient use of robust conservation and management measures; (ii) illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing undermining the effectiveness of measures; and (iii) negative impacts from tuna fishing on ecosystems and biological diversity.

Illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing is a serious threat to sustainable fisheries, marine ecosystems and the livelihoods of legitimate fishers globally. To address it, the Common Oceans ABNJ Tuna Project is exploring ways to strengthen and harmonize the use of monitoring, control and surveillance tools, and combat IUU fishing in tuna fisheries across the marine areas beyond national jurisdiction. One tool is the use of electronic monitoring systems to monitor individual vessel operations at sea. In a typical electronic monitoring application, cameras, recording video or still images, are deployed at key points on the vessel to allow a view of the fishing operation. The video footage is stored on hard drives that government officials can use to review compliance with regulations, as well as record detailed data on catch and effort. It was envisaged that industry would have access to these data for its own operational purposes.To test the best way to incorporate this technology as complementary compliance tool, two pilot trials were set up: one in Ghana to cover the domestic tuna purse seine fleet fishing; and one in Fiji to cover the domestic longline fisheries. Close collaboration was established between national governments and industry for implementation.The overall aim of the pilots was to develop an effective implementation process at the national level, so that the information could be properly utilized for compliance purposes. This report documents the successful completion of these trials, and the lessons learned that could benefit electronic monitoring programmes elsewhere.

The marine areas beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ) comprise 40 percent of the earth’s surface, covering 64 percent of the surface of the ocean and 95 percent of its volume. The Common Oceans ABNJ Programme (2014-2019) was implemented by FAO as a concerted effort to bring stakeholders to work together to manage and conserve the world’s common oceans. The ABNJ Tuna project, one component of the Common Oceans ABNJ Programme, promoted important transformational changes in the management practices of tuna fisheries, improving their sustainability, strengthening Marine Stewardship Council capabilities of tuna regional fisheries management organizations (t-RFMOs) and their members, and significantly reducing their impact on biodiversity. The project generated knowledge but lacked a structured mechanism and strategy to harvest and disseminate it. Similarly to the programme level evaluation report, the programmatic approach component, the partnership framework, as well as how to foster synergies among projects and capitalization of knowledge management should be strengthened.

The seventh meeting of the Project Steering Committee (PSC) of the Common Oceans ABNJ Tuna Project was held in FAO Headquarters in Rome from 27-28 January 2020.