MSC pre-assment made public

Participant list confirmed

Updated 2024 workplan

Updated 2021 workplan

Workplan made public 

Discussions took place with the captains of the tuna vessel Yu Feng 518, who provided answers regarding the condition of their vessels.

In April 2024, the FIP obtained observer data from the 2021/2022 period for 9 FIP vessels. Captains reported that impacts on seabirds, sea turtles, and marine mammals were low. However, there were some records of incidental catch of sharks.

Limited data on hook and bait numbers obtained from observer records has been made available.

The FIP has provided bait data from 2020-2023; the pacific saury along with miscellaneous species were the main species recorded. 

The FIP participated in the 20th session of the WCPFC meeting; a long-form summary of meeting outcomes has been made available. 

The FIP has signed advocacy letters in tandem with other NGOs addressed to the WCPFC urging the commission to adopt new management measures for the North Pacific albacore tuna. 

The FIP has circulated joint position statements ahead of the 2022 WCPFC annual meeting and 2023 IATTC annual meeting. 

The WCPFC South Pacific Albacore Roadmap Intersessional Working Group (IWG) met in Spring 2023; the IWG is conducting complementary work with the albacore Harvest Strategy workplan and has initiated discussions on proposed revised target reference points.

The FIP has attended the third IATTC workshop on Management Strategy Evaluation (MSE) for tropical tunas. The workshop focused on improving communication among fisheries stakeholders, refining performance metrics, and focusing on bigeye tuna MSE.

The FIP's position statement has been circulated ahead of the 100th IATTC annual meeting held in 2022.

The FIP has held a series of recent meetings to discuss and build upon the harvest strategy; The IWG has recently provided consultation on the South Pacific albacore harvest strategy workplan. 

The revised 'Indicative Workplan for the Adoption of Harvest Strategies under CMM 2014-06' was adopted at the 18th regular session of the WCPFC

Skipper training workshop held on ETP species; presentation from workshop available

The Tawian fishing authority replied to the FIP's position statement noting that they are willing to actively cooperate

The TFA has sent out two position statements regarding both the IATTC annual meeting and the WCPFC annual meeting. 

FIP has added an addendum to the pre-assessment and workplan

Aggregated observer data drafted into a summary of catch percentages made available

Meeting held with TFA and the Overseas Fishery Development Council

Catch data has been aggregated for a three year period and the pre-assessment has been updated

A WCPFC advocacy letter has been drafted

The FIP sent a position statement to the IATTC ahead of the annual meeting advocating for stock status and rebuilding for EPO bigeye and yellowfin tunas.

A shark finning and turtle policy has been agreed upon by all FIP participants and is now being implemented onboard vessels

Taiwan was identified in 2021 by NMFS for having vessels that violated conservation and management measures in WCPFC, IATTC, and ICCAT areas from 2018 to 2020, based on NGO reports from crewmembers. Taiwan provided detailed case reports for 11 vessels, with two penalized, two dismissed, and seven still under investigation, leading NMFS to conclude that Taiwan is taking appropriate corrective actions.

Increase to PI 2.3.3; Three-year audit conducted. While at-sea monitoring occurs at low levels in some years, the average proportion of hooks observed is above 5% annually for vessels participating in the FIP, for the years 2019-2022.

ETP management/plan strategy has been developed to address by-catch issues.