The Ministry of Fisheries and Ocean Resources announced the conclusion of the 28th session of the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) on Saturday, with the successful adoption of 16 proposals.
According to the Maldives government, IOTC 28th session concluded with fruitful developments, especially “after years of intense regulations and setbacks” a drifting FAD (dFAD) management measure was adopted.
This measure will also play a vital role in regulating the use of dFADs deployed by purse fishing vessels operating in the Indian Ocean.
Besides this, the measure will establish a dFAD register and a monitoring system with stricter limits on the number of dFADs, as well as a reduction of supply vessels.
Additionally, the session concluded with the adoption of the Management Procedures (MP) for Skipjack tuna and swordfish – making it the first time a swordfish management procedure is established globally, which is also the first non-tuna management procedure ever to be adopted by a regional fisheries management organization.
The proposal was backed by both the Maldives government and the European Union (EU).
Maldives and Korea co-led a proposal on climate change, aimed on strengthening the current measure providing guidance on the incorporation of climate change impacts on the functioning of the IOTC and “introduced a standing agenda item on climate change in relation to IOTC fisheries” in the Scientific Committee meetings of IOTC.
Despite the adoption of 16 proposals, Maldives announced its disappointment over the withdrawal of the proposal submitted by it and Pakistan on the conservation of sharks.
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