Seychelles hosts meeting to discuss quota allocation system for migratory tuna |12 February 2018

The Indian Ocean Tuna Commission last week hosted the 4th Technical Committee on Allocation Criteria (TCAC04) in Victoria.

The objective of this group was to discuss a proposal for quota allocation system for migratory tuna for the entire Indian Ocean region.

This is essential for the sustainable management of tuna fisheries in the Indian Ocean.

However, the Contracting Parties to the IOTC have failed to agree on this even if working on it for many years, despite setting a deadline of 2012.

The Fédération des Pêcheurs Artisans de l'Océan Indien (FPAOI) and the FBOA (Fishermen and Boat Owners Association, Seychelles) attended the meeting, as observers, in order to represent the interests of thousands of domestic and artisanal fishers from Seychelles and from the Indian Ocean region.

At the same time, members of FPAOI and FBOA also attended a meeting held in Mauritius on coastal tuna fisheries, hosted by the IOC SMARTFISH programme.

“We believe that any agreement for the IOTC regarding how quotas will be allocated must recognise and support sustainable domestic tuna fisheries, given the role our tuna fisheries play in providing employment and food security,” says a joint communiqué from the FPAOI/FBOA.

The communiqué adds that the FPAOI/FBOA will continue to defend our artisanal tuna fisheries in this process, and put pressure on governments to finalise

the quota system keeping in mind that any system should guarantee the sustainability of the resources on which numbers of small scale fishers rely.

On this approach the FPAOI works in close collaboration with the Confédération Africaine des Organisations Professionnelles de la Pêche Artisanale and CFFA (Coalition for Fair Fisheries Agreements) in order have more support.