IOTC adopts “ambitious and rigorous” framework for managing drifting FADs

The IOTC resolution immediately bans the use of completely non-biodegradable drift fish collection devices

After three years of negotiations and at the request of the EU, members of the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) adopted a resolution on the management of drift aggregation devices (FADs). They also agreed on several other measures key to the sustainable management of resources in the Indian Ocean. A total of 11 new fisheries conservation and management measures were adopted.

From 2022, the EU has consistently put forward proposals to improve and tighten FAD management in the Indian Ocean. Purse seiners, including those flying the flag of EU Member States, use most of their drifting FADs on the high seas, while coastal communities typically use anchored FADs closer to the coastline.

Based on an EU proposal, the IOTC has adopted the “most ambitious and rigorous” framework to date for managing drifting FADs in any ocean, which includes:

• Immediate ban on completely non-biodegradable drifting FADs;
• phasing out non-biodegradable FAD drift components in favor of fully biodegradable FADs in 2030;
• reducing the number of drifting FADs per vessel (from 300 currently to 250 FADs in 2026 and 225 in 2028, which is the lowest limit ever adopted by a regional fisheries management organization);
• Introducing the first ever FAD register to ensure better control of this fishing practice.

Fishing in Focus: What are fish collection devices and why is there a debate about banning them?

The IOTC Parties have agreed on skipjack and swordfish management procedures that will enable “significantly more informed, automatic and science-based decision-making” in the IOTC. The adoption of these EU-sponsored measures puts IOTC at the forefront of modern fisheries management. IOTC is the first tuna RFMO to adopt management procedures for swordfish, a non-tuna species, and has management procedures for two of the three tropical tuna stocks, skipjack and bigeye.

However, a one-month suspension of fishing in the Indian Ocean was not adopted, which, according to the European Commission, “would help rebuild stocks of yellowfin tuna and bigeye tuna, which are currently overfished.”

Download the full agreement here.

@GSA_Advocate