Members of the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) agreed to reduce the use of drifting fish-aggregating devices (FADs) and to impose three-month closures on the devices, despite opposition from the European Union.
Through their numbers and influence, EU lobbyists have stymied efforts to impose appropriate catch quotas and limit the use of destructive fishing gear.
All three commercially important tuna species in the Indian Ocean are at risk. On Feb. 5, countries hammered out an agreement in Mombasa, Kenya, on one the prickliest issues for tuna fisheries: the use of fish-aggregating devices, or FADs. Members of the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) agreed to reduce the number of drifting FADs […]