Australia Hosts Indian Ocean Tuna Commission

The meetings took place in Fremantle, Western Australia and were attended by states party to the IOTC as well as invited experts, observers and a range of non-government organisations (NGOs).

The Australian delegation comprised representatives from AFMA, the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, the Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities and the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences.

The Commission and the Compliance Committee both worked through extensive agendas that included a number of Australian proposals; including the implementation of minimum data standards and measures to conserve whale sharks and cetaceans. The IOTC outcomes included measures on:

implementation of the precautionary approach; recording of catch and effort by fishing vessels in the IOTC area of competence; conservation of marine turtles; reducing the incidental bycatch of seabirds in longline fisheries a management plan for fish aggregating devices.