The Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC) held its annual meeting in the historic city of Lisbon, Portugal last week and took the opportunity to make its own mark on history. With adoption of a management procedure (MP) for Pacific bluefin tuna, as well as a measure to implement the MP-based catch limits starting in 2027, IATTC finally joins the other tuna management bodies in application of the MP approach to modernize and improve its management.
However, getting to this point was far from certain.
A hard-won agreement
Despite tentative agreement on the bluefin MP back in March, adoption last week was not assured. Due to a breakdown in negotiations among eastern and western Pacific managers back in July, it looked increasingly unlikely that the MP would make it across the finish line this year. While the MP terms were generally accepted, consensus was held up due to disagreements about how to allocate the MP-based catch limits among countries.
However, demonstrating a rare level of determination and willingness to compromise, with impressive leadership from Japan, the major fishing nations met informally and formally over the past month to work out their differences and come to an agreement. This effort enabled MP adoption in Lisbon and shows what is possible when governments want to make progress.
Because Pacific bluefin tuna is a pan-Pacific stock, the baton now passes to the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) to adopt a complementary measure when they meet in Vanuatu later in the year.
A step forward for South Pacific swordfish management
Thanks to leadership from Ecuador, the EU, and the U.S., IATTC also agreed to its first-ever measure for South Pacific swordfish. The measure sets provisional reference points for the stock and calls for harvest control rule (HCR) development using management strategy evaluation (MSE). It will be important to work with IATTC scientists to ensure this initiative has the necessary structure and resources to progress over the next couple of years.
A step backward for mahi management
Unfortunately, not all of the week’s decisions moved IATTC toward more robust, MSE-based management.
A revision to the 2023 measure for mahi (dorado) not only failed to add mention of MSE as a potential scientific tool but also removed reference to HCR development, a perplexing and misguided decision for this valuable fishery. Management of the eastern Pacific mahi fishery is challenged by multiple uncertainties, from stock structure questions to reporting deficiencies in the extensive artisanal fisheries. MSE is well-suited to help address these kinds of uncertainties and identify viable management options despite them.
A missed opportunity for tropical tunas
And in the biggest disappointment of the week, IATTC failed to adopt an interim multi-stock tropical tunas MP, despite similar proposals tabled by Ecuador, the U.S., and EU.
The proposed MP was based on seven years of MSE development, which included dialogue with fisheries managers and stakeholders throughout the process on the MP objectives and structure. There were five intersessional dialogue meetings in the past year alone! The proposed MP would have even increased fishing opportunities by decreasing the duration of the purse seine closure. However, as with Pacific bluefin tuna in July, an allocation-related debate only tangentially related to the MP (in this case, fishing capacity allowances per country) held up the agreement, and the existing tropical tunas measure remains in place.
Dr. Glen Holmes (Pew) and I published a paper on MPs and allocation several years ago, presenting the arguments of agreeing allocation before, after, or alongside an MP, and finding that allocation does not need to be agreed prior to MP adoption. It is frustrating to see that progress on this MP adoption is still being held hostage to allocation debates, especially when MP agreement and the predictability of future allowable catch/effort can help to facilitate allocation discussions, as we asserted in the paper.
Hopefully the two will be able to be separated or resolved in tandem next year, so IATTC can adopt a multi-stock MP for tropical tunas in 2027.
An important milestone, and more work ahead
Overall though, IATTC made measurable improvements to its management last week, with Pacific bluefin as its first implemented MP a cause for celebration. While IATTC adopted an MP for North Pacific albacore in 2023, they have yet to convert the MP output into catch and/or effort limits so it can be applied. Thankfully, that’s on the agenda for 2027, so when combined with the potential for adoption of the multi-stock tropical tunas MP, next year could be a very big year for MSE-based MPs in the eastern Pacific.
The progress in Lisbon also demonstrates the value of sustained intersessional dialogue. Pacific bluefin showed that difficult allocation disputes can be overcome when governments are committed to working toward consensus, while the lack of agreement on tropical tunas showed the consequences when those issues remain unresolved. Intersessional dialogue will be key to building on this year’s progress, so we’re eagerly awaiting the proposed 2026-27 IATTC calendar. We look forward to partnering with IATTC members to get the job done!
Credit: Kurt Arrigo / Ocean Image Bank
The environmental impacts of global climate change influence marine ecosystems in multiple ways, including changes in productivity, abundance, and spatial distribution of species. These changes have important implications for fisheries and are expected to become more pronounced with time as greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise. Multiple fishery management entities, including tuna Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (tRFMOs), have formal commitments in place to consider climate change impacts on stocks under their purview, including resolutions at the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC), the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC), the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC), and the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT).
However, a challenge when developing climate-informed fisheries management policies is the uncertainty around long-term climate forecasts. Even if we understand the functional relationship between an environmental factor (e.g., sea surface temperature, SST) and biological process (e.g., recruitment), we cannot predict with certainty the degree to which environmental conditions will change over time. This makes it difficult to predict with confidence how fish stocks will respond to climate change, which in turn has made the adoption of management policies that consider climate change difficult. Fortunately, fisheries managers do not need to predict the future perfectly to be prepared for it.
Management strategy evaluation (MSE) is a framework already in use across fishery management bodies that allows for the testing of candidate management procedures (MPs), also known as harvest strategies, across a range of uncertainties and possible future conditions. This makes MSE an ideal tool for developing and testing MPs that support sustainable fishing practices despite system uncertainties, such as the ecosystem impacts of climate change. This is where the Climate Test, a new tool by the creators of the openMSE framework, comes in.
Rather than trying to exactly predict future climate conditions, the Climate Test simulation tests and rates the performance of candidate MPs under a range of increasingly severe climate scenarios. The analogy often used is that of testing pilots in a flight simulator; we cannot know with certainty what weather a pilot will encounter during a flight, but if all pilots (i.e., MPs) perform similarly well under normal flight conditions, why wouldn’t you select the pilot that can still safely fly the plane (i.e., manage the fishery) under more extreme weather conditions? In the same way, Climate Test puts candidate MPs through simulated future conditions and assesses their ability to meet management objectives as climate impacts intensify. The Climate Test can be easily added on to any MSE framework built in openMSE, providing a streamlined way for managers to evaluate the climate robustness of candidate MPs.
The Climate Test is being developed through several stages. The first involves exploratory tests, where MPs are rated for their climate robustness based on the assumed directional change of a handful of key biological parameters (decreased growth, increased natural mortality, decreased recruitment strength, decreased condition) under increasing climate change impacts. MP performance is assessed using a predefined robustness threshold, for example maintaining the stock size at or above 80% of the current spawning stock biomass (SSB) over the next 30 years. Candidate MPs are ranked by their climate robustness based on the magnitude of climate-related changes in stock dynamics they can withstand before the stock falls below the robustness threshold. For example, if candidate MP #1 (‘MP1’) maintains the stock above the robustness threshold under a 20% increase in natural mortality, but MP #2 (‘MP2’) can only maintain the stock above the robustness threshold under a 10% increase in natural mortality, then MP1 would be considered as more climate-robust. The exploratory Climate Test has been demonstrated for two stocks managed by ICCAT for which MSE-tested MPs are already in place: western skipjack and North Atlantic swordfish. Encouragingly, when the exploratory test was applied to the candidate MPs that had been considered for adoption for each stock, the Climate Test found that the MPs selected for adoption were the most climate-robust of the candidates evaluated.
The second stage of the Climate Test moves from assumed changes in individual biological processes toward conceptual climate tests, which use a hypothetical ecosystem model to simulate the combined impacts of climate change on multiple biological processes over time. For example, rather than simply testing a percentage decline in recruitment, the conceptual test can evaluate how MPs perform under increasing ocean warming scenarios (Figure 1). Returning to our example from above, a conceptual test could show that MP1 maintains the stock above the robustness threshold under a 0.9⁰C increase in SST, while MP2 can only maintain the stock above the robustness threshold under a 0.59⁰C increase in SST.
Figure 1. A demonstration of the conceptual Climate Test framework, which considers the combined impacts of climate change on multiple key biological processes and rates candidate MPs based on their ability to maintain the stock above a robustness threshold (in this case, ≥80% of current SSB) under different ocean warming scenarios. In this case, MP1 is the most climate-robust as it maintains the stock above the robustness threshold until an increase in sea surface temperature of 0.9⁰C. Source: https://climatetest.bluematterscience.com/
The next and final step in developing the Climate Test will be tailored tests using case studies from the Benguela upwelling system off the southwestern coast of Africa. In place of the hypothetical ecosystem model used in the conceptual tests, an Atlantis ecosystem model of the southern Benguela Current system will be used to simulate the biological responses of four case study stocks (anchovy, sardine, shallow- and deep-water hake) to a range of climate change scenarios. The Atlantis model will be informed by an earth system model under one historical and eight potential future carbon-emissions scenarios, or Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs), that span the full range of projected ocean warming. These responses from Atlantis will be incorporated into openMSE models to test hypothetical MPs for these stocks and evaluate which MP formulations perform the best for these life histories under increasing climate change impacts. The lessons learned can be applied in MSE efforts for stocks with similar life histories around the world, or new tailored tests can be developed for specific regions or stocks.
Integrating the Climate Test into future MSE efforts offers a path forward for fisheries management bodies such as the tRFMOs looking to fulfill their climate commitments. By moving past the need for perfect climate projections, the Climate Test equips managers with a structured decision-making tool that ensures MPs are robust to future environmental uncertainty. For more information, visit the Climate Test project page.
1. What is Conxemar and why did it decide to attend SPRFMO?
Conxemar is the Spanish Association of Wholesalers, Importers, Processors and Exporters of Fishery and Aquaculture Products. It represents an important part of the seafood value chain in Spain and Europe, especially in processing and trade.
Our work is closely linked to the monitoring of fisheries, trade and regulatory policies that affect the supply of raw materials, the sustainability of resources and the competitiveness of the European processing industry.
Conxemar decided to attend the annual Commission meeting of the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation (SPRFMO), held in Panama City, March 2-6, 2026, because the decisions taken in this organization have a direct impact on a strategic species for our industry: jumbo flying squid. For many Spanish and European companies, jumbo flying squid is an essential natural resource. It is used in many formats and processed products, and it has a very important presence in the Spanish market.
For this reason, we considered it important for the seafood value chain to be present in international discussions on the management of this fishery. The sustainability of the resource is fundamental, but so are stable supply, legal certainty and the need for decisions to take into account the impact on producers, processors, traders and consumers.
2. Why is squid an important species for Conxemar, Spain and Europe?
Jumbo flying squid is a key species for the Spanish processing industry. Spain is one of the main European markets for this product, and many Conxemar member companies depend on a stable, legal and sustainable supply of this natural resource.
Its importance is not limited to imports. Jumbo flying squid creates in both Spain and around the world industrial activity, employment, added value and an accessible source of marine protein for consumers. It is part of a broad value chain that includes international operators, importers, processing plants, distributors, retail and food service.
At European level, it is also a relevant species because it helps diversify the seafood supply. In a context where Europe depends heavily on seafood imports, ensuring the sustainable management of jumbo flying squid is important both for the conservation of the resource and for food security and the competitiveness of the industry.
3. What was Conxemar’s experience at SPRFMO like? What did we learn?
The experience was very positive and useful. It allowed us to better understand how SPRFMO works, how the positions of the different delegations are developed, and how negotiations really take place inside a regional fisheries management organization.
One of the main lessons was that informal conversations, bilateral meetings and side discussions are often as important as the formal sessions. These spaces make it possible to better explain the concerns of the industry, provide context and understand the priorities of each delegation or observer.
We also saw that the position defended by a delegation in a RFMO does not always fully reflect the needs of all the actors in its own country or market. That is why it is important for stakeholders, including members of the seafood supply chain, to participate directly when possible, in order to bring a complementary view and explain how management decisions affect supply chains, processing and the market.
During the meeting, we had the opportunity to speak with different delegations and observers, including The Pew Charitable Trusts and CALAMASUR. With them, we shared the concern about the need to move towards stronger, science-based and precautionary management of jumbo flying squid. These contacts were very useful to identify areas of cooperation and to better understand how Conxemar can add value in future meetings.
4. What were the main results of the meeting?
The meeting brought important progress, although it is still not enough to ensure fully effective management of jumbo flying squid.
On squid management, members adopted amendments to the conservation and management measure for this fishery. The decision reduces the authorized fishing effort limits by 15%, both in terms of fleet size and tonnage.
This is a positive step because it shows a willingness to move towards more precautionary management. However, its real impact on fishing pressure may be limited. The reason is that some fleets are not currently using all the capacity they were allowed to use before the amendment. For example, China, which is the main fleet authorized in this fishery, has around 20% fewer vessels operating than it could have under the previous limits. Therefore, a 15% reduction does not necessarily mean a real reduction in actual fishing effort.
The main problem continues to be the lack of sufficient scientific advice on the status of the stock. This lack of information makes it harder to adopt more ambitious measures. Even so, it is important that members agreed to consider new precautionary measures in 2027, even if there is still no conclusive scientific advice from the Scientific Committee.
In addition, a scientific work plan was approved. This includes the development of management strategy evaluation (MSE) and a harvest control rule (HCR) for jumbo flying squid. This is important because it can create the basis for more predictable, data-based and long-term management. The Commission also accepted the recommendation of the independent performance review panel to move towards harvest strategies for all its fisheries. It was also rightly recognized that this approach should not be the same for every species, but should be adapted to the characteristics of each fishery. A working group will now discuss the timing and conditions for implementing these recommendations.
Another relevant result was the adoption of a measure to establish standards for electronic monitoring. SPRFMO has therefore become the first non-tuna RFMO to approve this type of framework. This decision will allow electronic monitoring to be used to meet the new requirements for increased observer coverage in the jumbo flying squid fishery from 2027. It will also help improve the collection of scientific data and compliance control.
5. What is Conxemar’s view on these results?
Conxemar’s view is cautious. The results show a positive direction and open the way towards more structured, science-based and sustainable management of jumbo flying squid, but they are still not enough.
The 15% reduction in effort limits is a political step forward, but it will probably not significantly reduce real fishing pressure. For this reason, it will be essential for SPRFMO to continue moving towards more ambitious measures, based on the precautionary principle and supported by better scientific knowledge. This is also why Conxemar will continue to participate in SPRFMO.
For Conxemar, the sustainable management of jumbo flying squid must be based on three pillars: good science, effective precautionary measures and the participation of the whole value chain.
6. Why will Conxemar continue to engage with SPRFMO?
Conxemar will continue to engage with SPRFMO because the decisions taken in this organization will be very important for the future of jumbo flying squid and for the industry that depends on this species. For this reason, we have already requested Conxemar’s inclusion as an accredited observer in SPRFMO.
Our intention is to continue working before the next Commission meeting in March 2027, especially in three areas: maintaining contact with delegations and observers, cooperating with organizations such as CALAMASUR and Pew, and continuing to bring the perspective of the European processing and trading industry.
We also want to help ensure that the discussion on jumbo flying squid includes not only the fishing dimension, but also the reality of markets, processing, employment and food supply. Sustainable management needs to understand the whole chain.
7. Was it useful to attend SPRFMO? Would Conxemar recommend that other industry members participate?
Our conclusion is that the seafood industry should be more present in these international forums. The decisions taken in regional fisheries management organizations have direct consequences for supply, companies, workers and consumers. For this reason, when possible, it is useful and recommendable for other actors in the value chain to participate as well.
The sustainability of fishery resources is not only a fisheries management issue. It is also a value chain issue, a food security issue, an employment issue and a shared responsibility. For this reason, Conxemar considers that its presence at SPRFMO was valuable and will continue working to provide a constructive, responsible and long-term perspective.
Pablo Cadarso Rebolledo serves as Deputy Director of Conxemar, the Spanish Association of Wholesalers, Importers, Exporters and Processors of Fishery and Aquaculture Products. A qualified lawyer specialising in Maritime Law, he has professional experience in legal practice and marine insurance. His current areas of expertise include seafood market intelligence, international trade, regulatory affairs and the strategic challenges facing the Spanish and European seafood industry.
Blog originally published on FAO’s Common Oceans Program Newsroom.
Countries strengthen skills in management procedures through regional training
16/07/2026
15 -16 July 2026 – Antigua, Guatemala – Fisheries scientists and managers from across Central America gathered in Antigua for the first regional workshop on management procedures for sustainable fisheries, under the framework of the Organization of the Fisheries and Aquaculture Sector of the Central American Isthmus (OSPESCA).
The two‑day event forms part of a global series of capacity‑building workshops hosted by The Ocean Foundation (TOF) and supported by the GEF‑funded FAO Common Oceans Tuna Project, designed to strengthen science‑based decision‑making in tuna and tuna‑like fisheries.
Management procedures (MPs), also known as ‘harvest strategies’, are pre-agreed decision-making frameworks that determine allowable fishing levels under different stock conditions. They aim to keep fisheries within sustainable limits while reducing the risk of stock decline.
Management strategy evaluation (MSE) simulations are used to stress test MPs to assess their performance under uncertainties such as climate change, illegal fishing and data gaps. This approach supports more predictable management that can also reduce conflict in decision-making.
©FAO/Camilo Pareja
Previous capacity-building sessions have been held in the Seychelles, Egypt and the Pacific region, the latter led by the Pacific Community (SPC). The Guatemala workshop marks the first time this training has been offered in the Central American region.
“Many fisheries managers have heard about MSE and management procedures, but fewer have had the opportunity to gain the depth of knowledge needed to participate confidently in their development and application,” said Dr. David Die, the lead instructor of the workshop. “By strengthening the capacity of managers to engage constructively in these processes, we can accelerate the adoption of MPs and support more effective, transparent, and sustainable fisheries management for the benefit of all.”
Strengthening regional cooperation through OSPESCA
OSPESCA, a specialized institution of the Central American Integration System (SICA), coordinates sustainable fisheries frameworks across the region. Its mandate covers the national waters, inland waters and Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs) of its member states – Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama and the Dominican Republic. The organization works to harmonize fisheries laws, design sustainable management policies and combat Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing.
“Strengthening technical capacity is essential for ensuring that management decisions are based on solid science,” said Bernal Chavarría, Coordinator of Fisheries Management and Policy at OSPESCA. “This workshop will provide our countries with the knowledge and tools to engage meaningfully in the decision-making process for our shared marine resources to ensure sustainable management.”
Applying the latest fisheries management methodologies
Participants included fisheries managers, scientists and technical officers from seven OSPESCA member countries. Prior to the workshop, they were asked to complete FAO’s e‑learning course series on management procedures for sustainable tuna fisheries. Building on that foundation, the training provided practical experience in applying the concepts to real‑world decision‑making.
The first day focused on developing and testing MPs. Participants explored management objectives, reference points, harvest control rules and performance indicators, as well as stakeholder roles and implementation considerations. The sessions were complemented by hands-on activities allowing participants to apply what they’d learned.
On the second day, experts from the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC ) and the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) presented ongoing multi-stock MSE frameworks, currently under development to advance MPs for tropical tuna stocks. Participants discussed the technical aspects, opportunities and challenges of these approaches, helping prepare them for upcoming tRFMO meetings on MPs and MSEs.
A growing global movement toward robust management procedures
Management procedures are increasingly recognized as one of the most effective tools for long‑term, precautionary fisheries management. Their adoption has already delivered measurable gains in several tuna fisheries worldwide, helping rebuild stocks and stabilize catch levels.
The workshop in Guatemala contributes to a broader global effort to equip countries with the skills needed to design, test and implement MSE‑based management procedures. Through the guidance of OSPESCA leadership and the workshop, Central American countries are strengthening their ability to manage shared resources sustainably and cooperatively.
“This training represents an important step toward strengthening knowledge in our region,” said Yesuri Pino, a Biologist with the Aquatic Resources Authority of Panama. “It helps ensure that decisions are science-based and, at the same time, allows us to contribute to the implementation of management approaches that benefit both our fisheries and our communities.”
The workshop in Guatemala was hosted by The Ocean Foundation, with support from the Common Oceans Tuna Project, Oceankind, the Paul M. Angell Family Foundation, and The Pew Charitable Trusts.
About the Common Oceans Tuna Project
Led by FAO and funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the Common Oceans Tuna Project brings together all five tuna RFMOs, scientific institutions, governments, civil society and the private sector to promote responsible, efficient and sustainable tuna fisheries while conserving biodiversity in a changing ocean environment.
To learn more:
Photo by Vincent van Zeijst. CC BY-SA 3.0.
For more than a decade, fisheries managers in Norway, the European Union, the United Kingdom, the Faroe Islands, Iceland, Greenland and Russia have driven the population of northeast Atlantic mackerel to a historic low. These coastal States, which co-manage the high seas mackerel fishery and are also Parties of the North-East Atlantic Fisheries Commission, have spent years wrangling over quota shares. And despite long-standing commitments to sustainable management, their combined catch is regularly soaring well in excess of the level that science calls for. The subsequent – and predictable – decline in stock size is a dire warning for the future of the fishery. Now these governments are taking renewed steps to develop a long-term management strategy (LTMS) that would recover the species and put it on a more sustainable trajectory. If well implemented, the strategy could help to reverse years of political gridlock over mackerel quotas.
Mismanagement has driven mackerel to an all-time low
As one of the northeast Atlantic’s key pelagic species, mackerel plays an important ecological role within the wider marine system, including as a prey for tuna and other commercial fish species and for marine mammals and seabirds. But since 2017, mackerel have been on a downward path, and little to no action is being taken to change course.
In 2015, 2017 and 2020, the coastal States asked the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES), the organization that provides scientific advice on fisheries management in the northeast Atlantic, to evaluate a new LTMS for the stock. But over the years, the mackerel fishing nations’ prevailing political priority has been to maximize national catch. And rather than focusing on the long-term health of the fishery, they allowed an existing scientifically evaluated LTMS to expire and failed to adopt a new precautionary one.
Some years, most parties agree to a total catch that’s in line with scientific advice but then go home and take unilateral catches that overshoot the agreed total, leading to overfishing. Through these actions, the coastal States consistently fail to consider the long-term health of the stock and fishery.
This inability to manage the mackerel stock in a precautionary way and with a long-term vision has led to the suspension of ecolabel certifications, an overfished stock and market actors suspending where they source their mackerel.
Figure 1: Boom and Bust of Atlantic Mackerel Driven by Poor Management Decisions
Excessive catches above scientific advice since 2008 and a lapsed long-term management strategy in the context of a changing environment and stock productivity (recruitment) has led to decline
Source: Adapted from ICES (2025) by adding contextual labels to a time-series plot of stock size (spawning stock biomass)
A new science-based management strategy evaluation could provide a path to recovery
The current state of mackerel can be reversed. Managers are realizing that a changing ocean means that stronger, smarter rules are required to recover the stock and ensure a more resilient fishery.
Specifically, climate-driven shifts in stock productivity and distribution, growing ecosystem pressures and competition over access are changing the context in which this fishery is managed. And managers need to consider the damage that mismanagement does not just to the mackerel population but to the broader region’s ecosystem as well.
Fortunately, we know what works: an LTMS (also known as a harvest strategy or management procedure) underpinned by a comprehensive management strategy evaluation (MSE).
An MSE is a critical part of a science-based decision-making framework. It involves stakeholder engagement and accounts for risks and trade-offs among competing objectives, such as maximizing catch and protecting stocks. Through computer simulations, an MSE can be used to assess the performance of a proposed LTMS under a range of environmental conditions and can include ecosystem considerations, such as how many fish should stay in the ocean to meet the needs of predators and other species. An MSE also allows managers to see how a fishery grows or declines in the face of a range of scenarios, therefore making it easier to choose the right LTMS, depending on their goals. For example, managers can ask if the management strategy is resilient to a period where fewer young fish are entering the fishery – and what that means for stock size or catches. They can also ask if the LTMS is robust to specific levels of excess catches and the continued failure to agree allocation.
Despite years of inaction, change may be coming. In early 2026, northeast Atlantic managers submitted a fourth advice request to ICES, asking for new information on a mackerel LTMS using MSE.
There is debate over the scope of the proposed MSE. A basic, single-stock MSE focused narrowly on stock status, yield and catch stability may represent progress compared with current management. But northeast Atlantic mackerel face challenges that go beyond what traditional management techniques can handle. As such, any MSE must respond to the shortfalls in implementation, such as excess catches, and should manage fisheries sustainably and with an ecosystem approach.
A new MSE should evaluate an LTMS that can:
Adopting an MSE-tested LTMS is the goal for 2026-27. Managers have made various global commitments to use marine resources sustainably and to protect biodiversity, and by making a change in mackerel management in the northeast Atlantic, they can show that they are serious about the ecosystem approach and moving towards science-based, sustainable fisheries management.
Ashley Wilson works on The Pew Charitable Trusts’ international fisheries project.
English below.
Un atelier sur les procédures de gestion (PG), également appelées stratégies de pêche (de l’anglais « harvest strategies »), pour les pêcheries de petits pélagiques en Afrique de l’Ouest s’est tenu les 19 et 20 mai à Nouakchott, République islamique de Mauritanie, sous le haut patronage de Son Excellence Moctar Ahmed Bouceif, ministre des Pêches, des Infrastructures maritimes et portuaires. Cet événement a été organisé par la Commission Sous-Régionale des Pêches (CSRP), avec le soutien de The Pew Charitable Trusts, accompagné par The Ocean Foundation », l’Institut mauritanien de recherches océanographiques et des pêches (IMROP) et l’Institut de recherche pour le développement (IRD).
La CSRP est une organisation régionale des pêches (ORP) composée de sept États membres (Mauritanie, Sénégal, Gambie, Guinée-Bissau, Guinée, Sierra Leone et Cabo Verde). Elle a été créée il y a 40 ans afin d’harmoniser les politiques de ses États membres en matière de conservation et d’exploitation de leurs ressources halieutiques, et ainsi de renforcer leur coopération au bénéfice du bien-être de leurs populations respectives.
Cet atelier visait à présenter et renforcer l’intérêt autour des concepts de PG et d’évaluation des stratégies de gestion (ESG), ainsi que de la manière dont les PG et les ESG pourraient être mises en œuvre au service des pêcheries de petits pélagiques. Ceci afin d’améliorer la gestion partagée de ces espèces dans la sous-région et la région. Les participants comprenaient des gestionnaires et des scientifiques des États membres de la CSRP et du Royaume du Maroc, ainsi que des représentants du secteur de la pêche (artisanale et industrielle) et de plusieurs organisations non gouvernementales.
Les espèces de petits pélagiques d’Afrique du Nord-Ouest constituent l’un des éléments fondamentaux du grand écosystème marin du courant des Canaries (CCLME en anglais), l’un des quatre grands systèmes d’upwelling de bord Est du monde. Le CCLME recoupe les zones économiques exclusives des États membres de la CSRP. La plupart de ces espèces de petits pélagiques sont partagées par deux États membres ou plus et constituent une ressource essentielle pour la sécurité alimentaire, l’emploi et les revenus. Elles sont exploitées depuis des décennies par des flottilles locales et étrangères, relevant à la fois des segments artisanal et industriel.
L’état d’exploitation de ces stocks est évalué collectivement par les scientifiques des pays partageant le même stock au sein du Comité des pêches pour l’Atlantique Centre-Est (COPACE), qui a conclu dans son rapport 2025 que cinq des onze stocks exploités évalués se situaient dans les limites biologiquement durables (statut « pleinement exploité »), tandis que six stocks étaient considérés comme surexploités, notamment les stocks de sardinelle ronde et de sardine. La pression de pêche exercée sur nombre de ces stocks est trop élevée, du fait de l’activité combinée d’une importante flottille artisanale difficile à contrôler, d’une flottille côtière plus récente (senneurs semi-industriels) active dans certains pays, et d’une flottille industrielle (chalutiers pélagiques). Une partie de cette pression est alimentée par la demande des usines de farine et d’huile de poisson qui se sont développées dans certains de ces pays au cours des années 2010. Les facteurs environnementaux, notamment le changement climatique et les fluctuations climatiques, influencent également fortement la biologie et la répartition spatiale de ces espèces.
En matière de gouvernance des pêches, les gestionnaires et les parties prenantes de la sous-région présents à l’atelier ont souligné le besoin croissant de coopération et de coordination entre les pays pour répondre à ces défis. Cette perspective est pleinement cohérente avec le Plan stratégique 2025-2029 de la CSRP, qui identifie la solidarité sous-régionale, la gouvernance coordonnée et la gestion écosystémique des stocks halieutiques partagés comme des priorités essentielles pour assurer la durabilité à long terme des ressources halieutiques et la sécurité alimentaire.
Principaux enseignements de l’atelier
Cet atelier a constitué une étape importante pour renforcer la compréhension sous-régionale, les capacités techniques et le soutien politique nécessaires à l’avancement des PG et des ESG, principalement pour les pêcheries partagées. Les participants ont discuté des concepts de PG et ESG à travers plusieurs exemples provenant d’autres régions (principalement des pays occidentaux mais aussi d’Afrique du Sud) et ont débattu, en se basant sur le cas de la sardinelle ronde, des premières étapes à entreprendre si les États membres de la CSRP souhaitaient mener une PG et une ESG pour cette espèce.
Les participants ont convenu que la mise en œuvre d’une PG et d’une ESG pour un ou plusieurs stocks clés de petits pélagiques constituerait un moyen important d’appuyer les progrès récents accomplis dans l’élaboration de plans de gestion au niveau national dans les États membre de la CSRP (un processus soutenu en partie par le programme EAF-Nansen) et au royaume du Maroc. Ces plans de gestion sont complexes à mettre en œuvre pour les États membres et une solution pour les rendre plus efficients est de travailler au niveau sous-régional à une meilleure coordination entre ces plans, un processus en cours dans lequel la CSRP est engagée à travers le projet Shared Sardinella. Dans ce contexte, les PG et les ESG pourraient offrir un cadre précieux pour faciliter les discussions sur une vision commune à long terme, des objectifs de gestion partagés et des compromis acceptables entre les parties prenantes et entre les États membres concernés. À plus long terme, nous souhaiterions que cette approche soit progressivement étendue à d’autres pêcheries prioritaires et stocks partagés de la sous-région, notamment les céphalopodes (par exemple Octopus vulgaris) à fort intérêt commercial et les espèces démersales (par exemple Pseudotolithus senegalensis, Epinephelus aeneus) largement consommées dans les Etats membres.
Perspectives
À l’avenir, un deuxième atelier entre les États membres de la CSRP pourrait examiner les défis scientifiques et de gestion propres à la sous-région qui doivent être relevés afin de progresser dans l’élaboration d’une PG pour une ou plusieurs pêcheries clés de petits pélagiques. Cela impliquerait de traiter, par la même, des défis techniques spécifiques, notamment le manque de données et la parfois faible standardisation entre les données nationales, ainsi que l’harmonisation des mesures de gestion ; par exemple, la manière dont une PG pour un stock s’articulerait avec le processus actuel d’élaboration des plans de gestion nationaux.
L’utilisation de l’ESG et des PG pourrait changer la donne pour les stocks de petits pélagiques et leur gestion dans la sous-région, grâce à un processus vertueux associant l’ensemble des acteurs concernés autour de l’objectif d’améliorer la gouvernance partagée de ces ressources. Ces outils pourraient également renforcer le rôle de la CSRP en tant qu’institution chef de file pour conserver et exploiter durablement ces espèces d’une importance écologique et économique vitale.
Patrice Brehmer, Conseiller scientifique du Secrétaire permanent de la Commission Sous-Régionale des Pêches. Directeur de recherche, IRD.
Mohamed Ahmed Jeyid, Chef du département « Suivi et évaluation des ressources halieutiques », IMROP.
A workshop on management procedures (MPs), also known as harvest strategies, for small pelagic fisheries in West Africa was held on 19-20 May in Nouakchott, Islamic Republic of Mauritania, under the high patronage of His Excellency Moctar Ahmed Bouceif, Minister of Fisheries, Maritime and Port Infrastructure. This event was organized by the Sub-Regional Fisheries Commission (SRFC) with support from the following partners: The Pew Charitable Trusts, The Ocean Foundation, the Institut Mauritanien de Recherches Océanographiques et des Pêches (IMROP), and Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD).
The SRFC is a regional fisheries organization composed of seven member states (Mauritania, Senegal, The Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Sierra Leone and Cabo Verde) that was created in 1985 to harmonize the policies of its members regarding the conservation and exploitation of their fisheries resources, and to strengthen their cooperation for the benefit of the well-being of their respective populations.
This workshop focused on building sub-regional understanding of MPs and management strategy evaluation (MSE) concepts, and how MPs and MSE could be applied to fisheries for small pelagic fishes to help improve the shared management of these species in the sub-region. Attendees included managers and scientists from the SRFC member countries and the Kingdom of Morocco, as well as representatives from the fishing sector and from non-governmental organizations.
West African small pelagic fish species are a building block of the Canary Current Large Marine Ecosystem (CCLME), one of the four major Eastern Boundary upwelling systems in the world. The CCLME broadly overlaps with the exclusive economic zones of the SRFC member states. Most of these small pelagic species are shared by two or more member states and are a key resource for food security, employment and income. Both local and foreign fleets have exploited them for decades, by small-scale and industrial segments.
The status of these stocks is assessed collectively by scientists from the countries sharing the same stock within the Fishery Committee for the Eastern Central Atlantic (CECAF), which concluded in its 2025 report that five out of eleven assessed exploited fish stocks were within biologically sustainable limits (status of ‘fully exploited’) while six stocks were considered overexploited, including the stocks of round sardinella and sardine/pilchard. There is high fishing pressure on many of these stocks by a large and difficult to control artisanal fleet, a more recent coastal fleet (semi-industrial purse seiners) active in some countries, and an industrial fleet (pelagic trawlers). Some of this pressure is being driven by the demand for fish meal and fish oil factories that developed in some of these countries in the 2010’s. Environmental factors, including climate change and fluctuations, also strongly influence the biology and spatial distribution of these species. As for fisheries governance, managers and stakeholders in the sub-region point out the increasing need for cooperation and coordination among countries in their response to these challenges. This perspective is fully consistent with the SRFC Strategic Plan 2025–2029, which identifies sub-regional solidarity, coordinated governance, and ecosystem-based management of shared fish stocks as key priorities for ensuring the long-term sustainability of fisheries resources and food security.
Main takeaways from the workshop
This workshop was an important step in building the sub-regional understanding, technical capacity, and political support needed to advance MPs and MSE for shared fisheries. The participants discussed the concepts of MP and MSE through several examples from other regions and debated, using the case study of round sardinella, what first steps to take if the SRFC member states wanted to conduct an MSE for this species.
Participants agreed that conducting an MSE for one or several key small pelagic stocks would be an important way to support the recent progress on management plans at national level in the sub-region and Morocco, a process in part supported by the EAF-Nansen programme. While these management plans are complex to implement, the next step is to work at the sub-regional level on improved coordination between these plans, an ongoing process in which SRFC is enrolled through the Shared Sardinella project. In this context, MPs and MSEs could provide a valuable framework to facilitate discussions on a shared long-term vision, common management objectives, and acceptable trade-offs among stakeholders and countries. In the longer term, this approach could also be progressively extended to other priority fisheries and shared stocks in the sub-region, including cephalopods (e.g. Octopus vulgaris) and demersal species (e.g. Pseudotolithus senegalensis, Epinephelus aeneus).
Looking ahead
Looking ahead, a second workshop of SRFC member states could examine the scientific and management challenges specific to the sub-region that need to be addressed in order to progress the development of an MP for one or more key small pelagic fisheries. This would entail addressing specific technical challenges, including the lack of data and of standardization between national data, as well as management considerations; for example, how an MP for a stock would fit in the current process of national management plan development.
The use of MSE and MPs has the potential to change the picture for small pelagic stocks and their management in the sub-region, through a process that includes all the relevant actors towards the goal of improving the shared governance of these resources. These tools could also strengthen the SRFC’s role as the leading institution to conserve and sustainably exploit these ecologically and economically vital species.
Patrice Brehmer, Scientific Advisor of the Permanent Secretary of the Sub-Regional Fisheries Commission, Senior Researcher, IRD.
Mohamed Ahmed Jeyid, Head of Department, « Suivi et évaluation des ressources halieutiques », IMROP.
Photo by Rod Waddington. CC BY-SA 2.0.
The management procedure (MP) framework — management objectives, reference points, harvest control rules (HCRs), and MPs — is current best practice in fisheries management, replacing traditional reactive management with a proactive approach based on a pre-agreed decision framework.
MPs – also known as harvest strategies – have themselves undergone a significant evolution. It was not that long ago that MPs were less known and even lesser used in fisheries, particularly internationally managed ones. Then, they became the domain of a handful of well-monitored fisheries, slowly becoming mainstream fisheries management. The key to the success of MPs is their ability to simulate future scenarios and test management approach effectiveness, therefore providing confidence in the pre-agreed decision rules.
MPs have also progressively been adapted to more data-limited contexts with empirical MPs, including catch per unit effort (CPUE) and length-based HCRs. Each step has extended the reach of the MP discipline to stocks that would previously have been considered unmanageable under this kind of framework.
The next frontier is the stocks that are beyond even those adapted methods: fisheries where a reliable CPUE series is not available, and where conventional data-limited approaches are quantitatively impossible (i.e. it is not possible to build a simulation system to test potential management decisions).
The standard response in these cases in international fisheries is to apply precautionary catch limits derived from historical averages and move on – or set no limits at all and hope for the best. Aspects of that approach are defensible as an interim measure. As a permanent management approach, though, it forgoes many of the benefits an MP framework is designed to provide.
The question is then: How can the benefits of an MP be realised when it is not possible to construct and quantitatively test an MP? How can we take those MP principles and apply them to a greater number of fisheries?
The Southern Indian Ocean Fisheries Agreement (SIOFA) is exploring that very question in an internationally novel way.
SIOFA is an organisation with a significant management challenge. It is responsible for more than 100+ species under its mandate, many of which are smaller fisheries or are severely data challenged. For SIOFA, a substantial proportion of stocks fall into this category — stocks for which the quantitative toolkit, even in its most adapted data-limited forms, simply does not work.
SIOFA’s new Precautionary Approach and Management (PAM) Framework, under development through its Scientific Committee and funded by the EU, seeks to address this directly. It is attuned to the fact that it has this full diversity of stocks of varying commercial importance, and with different levels of data quality. Some stocks will justify significant ongoing scientific investment. Others are lower priority — but that does not mean SIOFA can afford to ignore them. A stock that slips into serious decline through inattention is a management failure regardless of its commercial value.
The PAM Framework’s response is not to draw a line below which proactive management does not apply, but instead to design a tiered system that extends MP discipline as far as the data will allow, for every stock under its remit — including for stocks where quantitative methods are not currently feasible. The PAM Framework creates “Tier 1” and “Tier 2” MPs (both quantitative, with different levels of sophistication of testing using management strategy evaluation, or MSE) — the typical MPs we see in fisheries management. And then it goes one step further to extend MP principles to even the most data-limited of fisheries. Its “Tier 3 Qualitative MP” is the instrument for that extension.
Many of the most durable benefits of an MP are structural, not computational. Pre-agreed rules shift management decisions from reactive, case-by-case negotiation to a rules-based system agreed in advance. Explicit consideration of future scenarios, including adverse ones, disciplines decision-making in ways that traditional assessment advice rarely does. Defined monitoring triggers create accountability and an evidence base for future review.
A Qualitative MP formalises these benefits. It is a full MP in its composition: it requires a fishery definition, explicit management objectives, limit reference points, HCRs, performance monitoring, exceptional circumstances protocols, and scheduled review — the same core architecture as a quantitative or empirically-derived MP.
What differs is how elements are developed, selected, and implemented. Most notably, Qualitative MPs are not developed using quantitative simulation testing, a fundamental element of what typically makes an MP an MP. For these Tier 3 stocks, quantitative analyses are impossible. Stock assessment relies on the best available method given the data — which at this tier means qualitative analysis: expert judgement applied to life history knowledge from analogous species; observable indicators such as changes in catch composition, fish size, or fleet behaviour; and any other evidence the fishery or other sources can provide. And similarly, when it comes to MP development, in place of quantitative MSE modelling, structured qualitative evaluation applies: an independent expert panel (odd-numbered to allow majority decision-making) is asked the same question the quantitative simulation would perform. It considers the plausible scenarios for the stock (changes in fishing dynamics, recruitment variability, environmental shifts, alternative biological assumptions), evaluates candidate management approaches against the agreed management objectives, and recommends the approach most likely to meet those objectives. Where panel members disagree, the range of opinions and the driving factors are documented. The HCRs that result may be qualitative — a defined catch trigger, escalating levels of intervention, or thresholds based on observable changes — but they are pre-agreed, explicit, and binding in the same way as any other HCR.
The output is a complete MP. It is evaluated differently, and its rules may be expressed qualitatively rather than quantitatively, but it carries the same procedural weight and the same expectation of compliance as any other MP adopted under the PAM Framework.
Expert knowledge should not be considered a substitute where sufficient fisheries data exists — but it is data that can be used where it doesn’t. Scientists, managers, and industry participants carry substantial knowledge that never enters a formal assessment process: life history understanding from analogous species, observations of shifts in catch composition or fleet behaviour, and practical understanding of what the monitoring system can and cannot detect. Structured evaluation makes that knowledge explicit, subjects it to independent scrutiny, and converts it into documented, auditable management advice.
Qualitative MPs should be treated as temporary. The process of structured expert evaluation is good at identifying, with some precision, exactly which data gaps are preventing graduation to a higher (quantitative) tier. That specificity creates an institutional case for closing data gaps, which does not exist when a stock sits entirely outside the management framework. The PAM Framework builds in scheduled re-evaluation and expects stocks to graduate upward as understanding improves, but it also acknowledges that graduation requires a genuine commitment to monitoring and data collection.
Qualitative MPs are not the goal. An MP should always be as quantitative as the data will support. Qualitative MPs are the floor, not the default — the point is to match the rigour of the MP to the information available, and to push that rigour as far as possible.
A Qualitative MP will never deliver the confidence that a quantitatively developed MP will provide. But, for stocks that currently have no structured management framework at all, the question is not whether the MP is perfect — it is whether it is better than the alternative. Structured objectives, pre-agreed rules, independent evaluation, explicit precaution, and a defined pathway toward more rigorous management is a meaningful foundation.
Fisheries professionals have spent decades demonstrating that proactive, rules-based management outperforms reactive decision-making. Tier 3 Qualitative MPs extend that argument to the fisheries that have, until now, been left out of it.
Kerrie Robertson previously chaired the Southern Indian Ocean Fisheries Agreement (SIOFA) and two subsidiary committees of the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation (SPRFMO). She represented governments in multilateral negotiations spanning UN frameworks and many RFMOs. Her consultancy work through Adira Consulting focuses on translating complex legal instruments into workable governance arrangements, particularly for Pacific Island nations. She has spent her career working at the intersection of international law, fisheries science, and cross-cultural collaboration—convinced that effective ocean governance comes from dialogue, commitment to progress and ensuring that all voices are genuinely heard at the table.
Earlier this month, Ash Wilson (The Pew Charitable Trusts) and I co-convened a workshop titled ‘Operationalizing Ecosystem-Based Management of Forage Species using Management Strategy Evaluation.’ The workshop was part of the program at the Small Pelagic Fish International Symposium hosted by ICES, PICES, and FAO in La Paz, Mexico. Held on May 4, 2026, the half-day workshop brought together 25 participants working in management strategy evaluation (MSE), ecosystem-based fisheries management (EBFM), and the intersection between the two. Through expert presentations and breakout discussions, workshop attendees explored how MSE-tested management procedures, also known as harvest strategies, can help advance ecosystem-based management approaches for forage fisheries under increasing environmental uncertainty.
Why MSE for forage species?
Forage species (e.g., sardine, anchovy, herring) play a critical role in the marine food web, linking low and high trophic levels by providing a key prey resource for predators such as marine mammals, seabirds, and large commercially important fishes (e.g., tunas, billfishes). However, their abundance in space and time is highly dependent on changing environmental conditions. Effective management of these species therefore poses a challenge, as patterns in their recruitment and biomass are driven by multiple interacting ecosystem and environmental factors, the individual impacts of which can be difficult to tease apart and simulate. Additionally, perceived relationships between the environment and forage fish population dynamics often break down over time, leading to high uncertainty in estimating recruitment and natural mortality using traditional stock assessment methods.
MSE is an ideal tool for addressing these management challenges for forage species, as MSE frameworks can be built to capture a wide range of possible ecosystem conditions and uncertainties, allowing managers to identify management procedures that remain robust under changing environmental and ecosystem conditions.
Showcasing emerging tools and real-world applications
In six presentations delivered by experts in the field, the workshop showcased existing research initiatives, case studies, and emerging tools designed to incorporate ecosystem considerations into fisheries management through MSE.
Three case study presentations highlighted regional examples of ecosystem considerations in MSE.
Regional discussions reveal shared challenges
Following the presentations, participants broke into regional discussion groups, where they discussed region- and stock-specific considerations for operationalizing EBFM, including identifying key drivers of variability, potential ecosystem indicators, critical data needs (including for building MSE frameworks), and the remaining hurdles to bridge science and management. Example fisheries discussed included Pacific sardine in the California Current, Gulf of Mexico menhaden, Bay of Biscay anchovy, Iberian sardine, and North Sea and Central Baltic herring. Across stocks, workshop participants repeatedly identified the need for a better mechanistic understanding of links between environmental variability and fish population dynamics in order to successfully incorporate ecosystem considerations into management. Similar ecosystem drivers, including upwelling and predation mortality, were identified across systems. At the same time, possible or existing approaches for incorporating ecosystem information into management (including MSE frameworks) varied among regions and species, reflecting differences in available data, ecosystem dynamics, and institutional contexts.
Looking ahead
A summary of the workshop, including a synthesis of breakout group findings on common challenges, shared ecosystem drivers, feasible indicators for MSE frameworks, and opportunities for collaboration across regions and forage stocks, was published in the July 2026 edition of PICES Press. A summary of this workshop can be found on page 55.
Additionally, key takeaways from presentations and discussions will be incorporated into a joint paper with other Symposium convenors and attendees, to be submitted to a special issue of a peer-reviewed journal.
Overall, the workshop highlighted the growing momentum and available tools for using MSE to operationalize ecosystem-based fisheries management for forage species and other stocks. As climate change and increasing environmental variability continue to impact ecosystems and fishery dynamics, implementing ecosystem-informed management approaches including MSE will become even more important for supporting sustainable fisheries.