Towards improvement in monitoring, reporting and management of Fish Aggregating Devices in the Indian Ocean Purse Seine Tuna Fishery

The Sustainable Indian Ocean Tuna Initiative (SIOTI) has been established in a collaborative effort by
key governments in the Indian Ocean, fishing companies, tuna processors and WWF. They have
launched a Fisheries Improvement Project (FIP) to support improvements towards the sustainable
management of purse seine tuna fishing, with the ultimate goal of certification by the highest
standards for sustainable fishing, the Marine Stewardship Certification (MSC) standard. SIOTI
commissioned a pre-assessment of the fishery as part of its FIP, which has identified several areas
where action should be taken in order to achieve MSC certification, i.e., their Improved Performance
Goals (IPGs). Among these, are IPGs related to the impacts of Fish Aggregating Devices (FADs) in
habitat outcomes, management strategies, and information. The objective throughout this study is to
identify deficiencies in the FAD data collection, reporting, and transmission process and provide
recommendations that would enhance transparency and compliance with FAD Management Plans and
IOTC resolutions, with the ultimate goal of achieving MSC certification for the SIOTI Indian Ocean
purse seine tuna fishery. Here, we review the recent conservation measures adopted at the 23 rd IOTC
Commission meeting in Jun 2019 and identify areas where further advances can be made towards the
sustainability of the Indian Ocean purse seine tuna fishery.