Update on 1997 Spring
ICCAT Meeting
by Eleanor A. Bochenek, Ph.D.
New Jersey Sea Grant Marine Advisory Service
Rutgers Cooperative Extension
(from Jersey Coast Anglers Association - June 1997 Newspaper)
The U.S. ICCAT (International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas) Advisory Committee meets twice a year and consists of 21 representatives from academia and recreational and commercial fishing industries. Pete Barrett (editor of The Fisherman Magazine) is the recreational representative from New Jersey and I am an academic representative. The Advisory Committee provides input to the U.S. ICCAT Commissioners on international fisheries management issues in the Atlantic Ocean. Technical advisors are also appointed to serve on one of the following Species Working Groups: Bluefin tuna, Swordfish, Billfish and BAYS (bigeye, albacore, yellowfin and skipjack tunas and sharks). Technical advisors attend the spring meeting and provide input to the advisory committee during the Species Working Group Meetings. New Jersey recreational technical advisors are John Koegler on BAYS and Jim Donofrio on Bluefin Tuna Species Working Group.
On the first day, the Advisory Committee was briefed by the NMFS concerning the implications of reauthorization of the Magnuson Act. NMFS must now establish Advisory Panels for large pelagics. The Advisory Panels will consist of commercial and recreational fishing industry representatives. These Panels will assist NMFS with domestic fisheries management of large pelagics. It is critical that recreational fishermen send a letter to Highly Migratory Species if they are interested in serving on an Advisory Panel.
The following day, NMFS briefed the technical advisors and the Advisory committee members on the status of the stocks and ongoing research efforts for large pelagics. In the afternoon the advisory committee and technical advisors participated in their Species Working Groups. A concern of the Swordfish Working Group was the importation of undersized swordfish into the U.S. market. U.S. fishermen cannot catch and sell undersized swordfish.
Billfish, Bluefin Tuna, and BAYS Working Groups want the U.S. Commissioners to emphasize the importance of the recreational fishery for these species (including economics) to ICCAT.
I am a member of the BAYS Species Working Group and will provide a more detailed report for this group. This committee wants NMFS to revise both recreational and commercial yellowfin tuna landings, because current landing data provided by NMFS are considered to be extremely low and does not accurately represent U.S. landings. The U.S. should request that all nations identify and provide data on their recreational fisheries for ICCAT species. Under ICCAT regulations, fishermen are not allowed to harvest very small bigeye and yellowfin tuna. U.S. fishermen do not harvest these small fish. However, other nations are harvesting many very small bigeye and yellowfin tuna in the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean. ICCAT should enforce the minimum size for yellowfin and bigeye tuna. Many of these small fish are taken by purse seiners fishing around FADS. BAYS asked that FADS or FAD-like devices not be allowed under ICCAT.
BAYS also discussed sharks and felt that more detailed data should be collected on shark landings by ICCAT nations. Finning of sharks and discarding of carcasses should be discouraged and protection provided to juvenile sharks.
Dolphin fish (mahi mahi) was discussed in BAYS and ICCAT should begin to collect landing data on dolphin.