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The report of the 13th Meeting of the Scientific Committee (SC) of the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) is now available online.

The meeting, held in Victoria, Seychelles over 6-10 December 2010, inter alia considered whether and how to amend IOTC Resolution 10/06 on Reducing the Incidental Catch of Seabirds in Longline Fisheries.

Although in the event Resolution 10/06, adopted at the 14th Session of the Commission of the IOTC held in Korea in March 1010 was not revised at the meeting, it was agreed that a major revision should follow an assessment of seabird bycatch within the IOTC region.  Such a revision might include the removal of the use of line shooters and offal management from the list of seabird mitigation measures listed in the Resolution.

The relevant text from the SC report follows:

"No assessment has been undertaken by the IOTC WPEB [Working Party on Ecosystems and Bycatch] for seabirds due to the lack of data from CPCs [Parties to the Commission]. The SC noted the current IUCN threat status for each of the seabird species reported as caught in IOTC longline fisheries to date.

Resolution 10/06 on reducing the incidental bycatch of seabirds in longline fisheries includes an evaluation requirement by the Scientific Committee in time for the 2011 meeting of the Commission.  However, given the lack of reporting of seabird interactions by CPCs to date, such an evaluation cannot be undertaken at this stage.

The SC recommended that mechanisms are developed by the Commission to encourage CPCs to comply with their reporting requirement on seabirds.

The SC recommended that a major revision of the Resolution 10/06 on reducing the incidental bycatch of seabirds in longline fisheries should be considered, in the near future, once its impact is examined.  Such revision may include the removal of the use of line shooters and offal management from the list of seabird mitigation measures."

Follow earlier ACAP news items on progress with the IOTC's seabird bycatch resoluion backwards from  http://www.acap.aq/2010-news-archive/indian-ocean-tuna-commissions-scientific-committee-to-discuss-seabird-mortality-this-week.

With thanks to Ross Wanless for information.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 14 February 2011