14 - Regional Cooperation: A Case Study of the Western Indian Ocean Tuna Fisheries

Summary

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.