Process and arrangement for management strategy evaluation of Indian Ocean skipjack tuna

One of the conditions of MSC Certification of Maldives pole-and-line skipjack fishery was that limit and target reference points for the stock are appropriate and there is a well- defined and effective harvest control rule in place. Maldives Seafood Producers and Exporters Association (MSPEA) as the MSC Certification Client has agreed to implement the MSC Client Action Plan (CAP) where these objectives have to be achieved for the Indian Ocean skipjack within the first five- year cycle of the Certificate.
Formal recognition of reference points and harvest controls are now mandatory in the IOTC following the adoption of the Resolution to implement the Precautionary Approach for managing tuna species in the Indian Ocean.
In order to achieve the overall objective of establishing reference points and harvest control measures for major Indian Ocean tuna species the Working Party on Methods has formulated a work programme for undertaking Management Strategy Evaluations (MSE). The MSE Work Programme focuses initially on albacore the most heavily exploited stock in the IOTC area. Maldives, as part of their commitment in implementing the CAP has taken the initiative to conduct MSE work on skipjack side by side with the IOTC-supported albacore work. This paper reports the ongoing Maldives-lead SKJ MSE work and the arrangements in place for communicating and coordinating this work with the broader MSE work programme of IOTC.