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The International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF) is a global partnership among scientists, tuna processors and environmental organizations to undertake science-based initiatives for the long-term conservation and sustainable use of tuna stocks, reducing bycatch and promoting a healthy marine ecosystem.  The ISSF was launched in March 2009 and has partners and supporters in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America and South America.

An ISSF Environmental Stakeholder Committee is comprised of expert representatives from various conservation and scientific bodies who serve in their personal capacities by reviewing information and providing analysis.  Ben Sullivan (Coordinator, BirdLife International Seabird Programme) is a member of the committee.  The ISSF Scientific Advisory Committee is chaired by Dr. Victor Restrepo who previously worked with the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT).  There is also a Bycatch Project Scientific Steering Committee.

A useful product of the ISSF is its RFMO Management Database, an on-line spread sheet that lists no less than 197 downloadable measures adopted over the years by four of the tuna Regional Fishery Management Organizations (tRFMOs) for stock conservation, bycatch mitigation and monitoring.  These four tRFMOs are the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC), ICCAT, the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) and the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC).  The listed measures include the eight current and past mitigation regulations adopted that aim to reduce mortality of seabirds by fishing vessels, so the compilation can serve as a "one-stop shop" for these four tRFMOs.

A fifth tRFMO, the Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna (CCSBT), and also the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR - which, however is not a tRFMO) are not included in the list, stated to be up-to-date to 18 January of this year.

Click here to access the CCSBT's Recommendation to Mitigate the Impact on Ecologically Related Species of Fishing for Southern Bluefin Tuna (updated at the Eighteenth Annual Meeting - 10-13 October 2011) which considers seabirds.  CCAMLR's current conservation measures include two pertaining to seabird mortality from both longlining (25-02 (2009) and trawling (25-03 (2011) activities.

Lastly, click here to access Conservation Measure 15/09: On Reducing Incidental By-catch of Seabirds in the SEAFO Convention Area, adopted by the South East Atlantic Fisheries Organization (SEAFO).

So you should now have at a full set!

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 12 March 2012