2024 was a record year for tropical tuna catch in the Eastern Pacific Ocean, thanks to a big increase in skipjack (Katsuwonus pelamis) catch, and stocks are considered healthy. So when the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC), a multilateral body that manages tuna and other fish stocks in this region, held its annual meeting Sept. 1-5 in Panama, some coastal Latin American countries pushed for more time to fish. The bid was successful: Commission members agreed to shorten an annual fishing closure from 72 days to 64 days. The outcome was a compromise between a U.S. proposal to maintain the 72-day closure and proposals by Latin American countries to lower it, one by as much as 17 days per year, to 55. The 64-day closure, which will go into effect in 2026, is in keeping with recommendations from the IATTC’s scientific committee. “They followed the scientific advice, which is important,” Pablo Guerrero, director of marine conservation at WWF Ecuador, told Mongabay. However, negotiations over the closure and general commission budget matters dominated the meeting, leaving insufficient time for some key conservation proposals, attendees said. “It was a meeting with little to report in terms of big wins for conservation,” said Guerrero, who attended the meeting. The members did agree to move toward adoption, in 2026, of a long-term harvest strategy for bigeye tuna (Thunnus obesus), though an NGO representative said the process should have been completed this year. The member countries didn’t adopt proposals to increase monitoring of longline tuna…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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