Cooperation Between National Administrations and

Regional Organizations (strengths and weaknesses)

by

A. Ribeiro Lima (ICCAT)

Summary

The Convention of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) states that the stocks of Atlantic tuna and tuna-like species should be managed at the level that supports maximum sustainable catch. In order to do that, it is necessary to conduct stock assessment, and hence to collect data. In fact, the cornerstone of the work at ICCAT is data, and without the cooperation of National Administrations, ICCAT could not function. The contribution of the FAO-COPEMED Program has resulted in large gains in the understanding of Mediterranean tuna stocks, and this contribution has been repeatedly acknowledged by ICCAT’s Standing Committee on Statistics and Research (SCRS).

ICCAT has been collecting fisheries data for several decades, and while considerable success has been achieved, there are still major problems resulting in uncertainty in the catches and the stock assessments. These problems are related to the level of cooperation by the National Authorities, as well as to uncertainties resulting from IUU fishing, and the negative effects of regulations on the quality of data. Four elements that have allowed ICCAT to achieve the current level of success in data collection are: the ease of information submission, flexibility, access to information and feedback.