Tuna travels faster, further, and wider than almost any other fish in the ocean. It provides nutrition for people around the world, shores up millions of coastal livelihoods, and underpins national economies. The Common Oceans Tuna project mobilizes a global partnership to promote sustainable tuna fisheries and biodiversity conservation in the oceans.
Twenty years ago, fears over the sustainability of tuna made headlines. At the time, consumer demand was surging, and management systems were struggling to keep pace with growing fishing pressures. Today, it is estimated that 99 percent of commercial tuna catches come from stocks that are scientifically assessed to be biologically sustainable.
This remarkable progress is not because we stopped fishing or eating tuna. Rather it reflects the work by tuna regional fisheries management organizations (t-RFMOs) to improve the functioning of compliance measures and enact precautionary fisheries management procedures.
The Common Oceans Tuna project seeks to build capacity and effective leadership through training, and by facilitating collaboration among the t-RFMOs and stakeholders to ensure that all major tuna stocks are fished sustainably through science-based harvest strategies and by integrating ecosystem science and climate impacts into decision-making. It also works to improve compliance and combat illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing by promoting innovative tools like electronic monitoring and traceability systems, and to reduce environmental impacts by minimizing bycatch and promoting eco-friendly fishing practices.
Key activities
Improve tuna fisheries management
Ensure all major tuna stocks are fished at sustainable levels using harvest strategies.
Operationalize the ecosystem approach to fisheries management in RFMOs.
Improve compliance and tackle IUU fishing
Training in monitoring, control and surveillance for more efficient enforcement of regulations.
Improve compliance with fishing regulations by promoting innovative tools like electronic monitoring and traceability systems.
Improve environmental performance
Decrease bycatch with better monitoring and promoting best practices in bycatch mitigation and alternative gear.
Promote ocean-friendly fishing devices.
Partners
In collaboration with: Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels (ACAP), BirdLife International (BLI), Conservation International (CI), INFOPESCA, International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF/ISSA), International MCS Network (IMCSN), International Pole and Line Foundation (IPNLF), International Whaling Commission (IWC), Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Pacific Community (SPC), Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA), PEW Charitable Trusts, Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP), The Nature Conservancy (TNC), The Ocean Foundation (TOF), World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).
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Facts and figures
USD 45 billion is the yearly value of the global tuna market
99 percent of tuna landings come from managed stocks that are sustainably fished
5.2 million tonnes of commercial tuna was caught in 2023
6.5 percent of all fish caught at sea is tuna
100+ entities participate in the five t-RFMOs