We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
from Part III - Fisheries Policy Directions
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 21 October 2015
INTRODUCTION
The Western Indian Ocean (WIO) is one of the largest fishing areas among those classified as such by The Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO). The region has maintained a steady rate of increase in fish landings mainly as a result of increased harvests of tuna species by distant-water fishing states since the 1990s. The highly migratory nature of the tuna stocks calls for management cooperation among coastal states in the WIO, taking into account principles and provisions in recent international instruments. This chapter reviews the broad organizational framework in the WIO with regard to tuna fisheries management, and particularly, the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC). We examine the challenges faced by the IOTC in the management and conservation of tuna, and the measures being taken to implement international fishery instruments, with a view to enhancing the coordination and cooperation of WIO coastal states at a regional level.
Tunas are one of the most economically important marine species globally and their demand has been on the increase, with tuna fishing around the world intensifying especially since the 1990s. The global catches of tuna increased from 400,000 tons in 1950 to over 4,000,000 tons in 2002, with the greatest catches being made in the Pacific Ocean by Japan, which amounted to 550,000 tons in 2002. International trade in tuna has mainly served the canning industries and the sashimi market.
The 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (hereafter LOSC) categorizes tuna and tuna-like species as highly migratory, since they move across exclusive economic zones (EEZs) of several coastal states and into the high seas, which are not under the jurisdiction of any state. Their migratory nature makes them vulnerable to overfishing. Vessels fishing for tuna are just as highly mobile, moving between the Oceans using various gears during their operations as they follow the tuna. This makes effective management of tuna stocks a significant challenge.
To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.
Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.
Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.
