High-Seas Management

Regional Fisheries Management Bodies (RFMOs) are high-seas management bodies that are formed by countries with fishing interests in a particular area. These could be countries in the region (‘coastal states’) or countries with interests in the fisheries concerned.

RFMOs set catch and fishing limits, technical measures, and control obligations – these are binding for their members. Some bodies manage all stocks, while some focus mainly on tuna and other highly migratory fishes.

There are 6 tuna RFMOs and 11 non-tuna RFMOs – some of which have overlapping areas. The Shark Trust contributes to the following, where we have ‘Observer’ status allowing us to engage in meetings at the following:

• International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT)
  
  
• General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM)
  
  
• North-East Atlantic Fisheries Commission (NEAFC)
  
  
• Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organisation (NAFO)
  
  

And we contribute through our partner organisations at:

• Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC)
  
  
• Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC)
  
  
• Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC)
  
  

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