20×25: Big opportunity to advance management procedures this year
3 février 2025
AuthorShana Miller
Project Director, The Ocean Foundation 
Here at www.HarvestStrategies.org, the New Year’s resolution is always to catalyze the development and adoption of robust management procedures (MPs) for fisheries around the world. 2024 saw impressive progress, with MP adoption for North Atlantic swordfish, Indian Ocean swordfish and skipjack, North Pacific saury, and Adriatic Sea anchovy and sardine. Notably, these are the first MPs for swordfish and forage fishes adopted by regional fisheries management organizations (RFMOs), marking a significant step forward in applying a broader ecosystem approach. These 5 adoptions brought the total number of MPs for internationally managed stocks to 15. If we make that kind of progress again this year, adding 5 more adoptions, we’ll have 20×25 – 20 total international MPs by 2025.
There are 11 stocks slated for MP adoption this year, so securing 5 is a realistic goal, regardless of the challenges of consensus-based management at the RFMOs. Here are the stocks we’re tracking this year in chronological order.
- January: Pacific halibut at the International Pacific Halibut Commission (IPHC) – The IPHC met in Vancouver, Canada, last week to discuss finalizing the Pacific halibut interim harvest strategy policy, which they have been operating under since 2019. They agreed last week to adopt a final MP in mid- to late-2025.
- February: Jack mackerel at the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organization (SPRFMO) – The jack mackerel management strategy evaluation (MSE) has been in development for over 5 years and has comprehensively tested a suite of potential MPs. There is no MP proposal posted yet, but a workshop on the MSE on February 15th before the annual meeting could at least finalize management objectives to narrow the scope of the MSE and make progress toward MP adoption no later than 2026.
- April: Albacore tuna at the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) – The albacore MSE will be completed as early as next month, allowing presentation at IOTC’s science-management dialogue group (SMD), the Technical Committee on Management Procedures, followed by MP adoption at the annual meeting.
- July: Pacific bluefin tuna at the Joint IATTC-WCPFC Working Group (JWG) – The JWG will meet in Monterey, California, this week to provide feedback on the preliminary MSE results. Several MP options will lock in recovery and long-term sustainability for this stock, which depleted to 2% of unfished levels just a decade ago.
- September: Bigeye tuna at the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC) – With MSE workshops in March and May and a science meeting in June, the IATTC is well-positioned to adopt its first tropical tuna MP this year.
- September: Redfish at the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO) – NAFO adopted the first two MPs for any internationally managed stocks and is on track to adopt its third this year. 3LN Redfish will join Greenland halibut and 3NO Atlantic cod, facilitated by NAFO’s effective science-management dialogue group, the Working Group on Risk-Based Management Strategies.
- November: Blackspot seabream at the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean Sea (GFCM) – GFCM adopted its first MSE-tested MPs last year, as mentioned above. It’s now nearing completion of a blackspot seabream MSE, with MP adoption slated for the annual meeting in November. The MP is expected to recover the long-overfished stock, good for people in Morocco and Spain who rely on this fishery.
- November: North Sea herring at the Northeast Atlantic Fisheries Commission (NEAFC) – ICES is putting the finishing touches on its MSE for North Sea herring, with the help of independent reviewers, putting NEAFC on track to adopt its first MP this year.
- November: Western skipjack tuna at the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) – ICCAT all but adopted an MP for western skipjack last year, paving the way for adoption this year once the MSE is revised to incorporate some Commission feedback on the preliminary results.
- December: South Pacific albacore – and bigeye tuna – at the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) – WCPFC was poised to adopt an MP for South Pacific albacore last year, but unfortunately none of the member governments submitted a proposal. WCPFC’s workplan now includes MP adoption for albacore and bigeye this year.
If we hit the 20×25 target, the number of international MPs will have doubled in two years — evidence of the tremendous progress in MP development. With even more internationally managed stocks slated for MP adoption in 2026, the tide is turning toward a future where MSE-tested MPs will bring a more transparent, predictable, and science-based approach to achieving long-term abundant and sustainable fisheries.
Needless to say, there’s a lot of work to be done this year. Please check back here regularly to see how 20×25 unfolds!
