The objective of this manual is to provide a working document for Contracting Parties (or “Member”) and Cooperating Non-contracting Parties (CPCs) to use in the implementation of the IOTC Resolutions. The content is divided into two chapters. The first chapter provides a broad overview of the international regime within which the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission has evolved, then examines the role of specific key international legal instruments (conventions and agreements) related to Indian Ocean tuna fisheries. It describes the roles of Regional Fisheries Management Organisations (RFMOs) and Regional Fisheries Advisory Bodies (RFABs), and explains what the IOTC is, how it is supposed to work, who drives it and what results are expected of it. The second chapter summarises the principles and measures provided by international instruments that guide fisheries management. It then describes the fisheries management tools used by IOTC from the perspectives of coastal States, flag States, port States and market States. This manual should be viewed as a living document that can be revised and improved by all parties as experience is expanded in the implementation of the IOTC Conservation and Management Measures.

The purpose of this Manual is to assist IOTC Contracting Parties and Cooperating Non-Contracting Parties (CPCs) to better understand the measures and actions that they must take in discharging their reporting obligations. It provides an overview of the IOTC Conservation and Management Measures (CMMs) that require active reporting and explains the aim, technical requirements and reporting requirements for each. The content is divided into three chapters. The first chapter provides an overview of the objective and structure of this Manual. It describes IOTC Resolutions and Recommendations, and explains the IOTC functions and institutional arrangements responsible for compliance with their requirements. It defines both event-based and recurring reporting and presents a table showing for each Resolution whether the flag, port, coastal and/or market State(s) has or have reporting obligations. The second chapter focuses on the Resolutions that require reporting and explains for each the key considerations for its adoption, the aim and application, technical and reporting requirements. The Resolutions appear in a framework based on the objective of the Resolution: fisheries management, monitoring, control and surveillance, mandatory statistics and market-related measures. The third chapter describes CPCs’ reporting requirements under Article X of the IOTC Agreement, the Rules of Procedure and relevant decisions of the Commission and the Scientific Committee. They require reporting through the annual Report of Implementation, the Standard Compliance Questionnaire and the National Scientific Report. This Manual is a living document that can be revised and improved by all CPCs as experience is gained in the implementation of the IOTC Conservation and Management Measures.

The objective of this manual is to provide a working document for port State authorities to use in the implementation of the IOTC Port State Measures Resolution (PSMR), which entered into force on 1 March 2011 and was amended in 2016 to include a provision on the electronic port State measures application (e-PSM). The content is divided into three chapters. The first chapter describes the functions and operations of IOTC and the Indian Ocean tuna fishery, and summarises the development of port State measures by the international community and the development by IOTC Contracting Parties and Cooperating Non-Contracting Parties (CPCs) of conservation and management measures that both reflect and complement the internationally agreed measures. The second chapter addresses operational and technical matters, key elements for the training of managers and inspectors, to provide them with the knowledge to implement the port State measures practically and effectively. The third chapter provides guides to and checklists for standard operating procedures to implement the measures for vessels from the main fishing sectors likely to be encountered in the Indian Ocean region. This manual should be viewed as a living document that can be revised and improved by all parties as experience is expanded in the implementation of the IOTC PSMR.

This publication considers issues related to illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing in the Mediterranean region, for discussion at the 28th session of the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean held in Tangiers, Morocco in October 2003. Topics examined include the role of regional fisheries management organizations (RFMOs), management of fishing capacity, especially as contained in International Plans of Action (IPOAs), the adoption of national plans of action (NPOAs), and the activities of the EU Fisheries Council on IUU fishing.

In recent years, an increasing number of commercially exploited and managed aquatic species, including sharks and rays, have been listed in the Appendices to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). The listing of some species in CITES Appendix II has necessitated attention from the fisheries sector of States on how listing would impact on the management of the relevant fisheries. This sourcebook and the research process involved in its development highlighted the opportunity to implement CITES through national fisheries legal frameworks. Indeed, in certain cases, doing so can prove to be vital in giving practical effect to CITES while simultaneously enhancing fisheries management regimes and ensuring that all activities along the fisheries value chain, especially the international trade in CITES-listed aquatic species, are legal, traceable and sustainable. The study recognizes that communities operating within the CITES regime and in the fisheries sectors have their own particular areas of work. However, they should cooperate and coordinate their work where they share the common high-level objectives of ensuring responsible, legal and sustainable utilization of resources, including species, biodiversity and ecosystems, and implementing the relevant Sustainable Development Goals. This sourcebook was first published in 2020, designated as a "super year" for nature and biodiversity. The second edition of this sourcebook was developed to take into account and reflect the outcomes of the 19th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to CITES, in 2022. The sourcebook is a timely and useful contribution to fisheries management as it seeks to provide support in: (i) raising awareness of CITES; (ii) enhancing comprehension of the CITES regime and its relationship with the fisheries sector; and (iii) where a deliberate decision is made by a country to implement CITES through its national fisheries legal frameworks, providing guidance on what to do and how to do it.

An increasing number of commercially exploited and managed aquatic species has been listed in the Appendices to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), triggering the attention from the fisheries sector of States on how listing would impact on the management of the relevant fisheries. CITES regulates international trade in certain aquatic species, including those which are, and can be, commercially exploited and which are being managed by the fisheries sector. The fisheries sector legal frameworks will have to recognize and enable the various requirements provided for in CITES, including the making of non-detriment findings and ensuring that there is a designated management authority and scientific authority to take certain decisions in respect of listed commercially exploited and managed aquatic species. This sourcebook provides clarifications on the relationship of CITES with the fisheries sector and provides guidance on how national fisheries legal frameworks can optimize the implementation of CITES. The realisation of this sourcebook in 2020, designated as a “super year” for nature and biodiversity, represents a timely and useful contribution to fisheries management, by (i) raising awareness of CITES; (ii) enhancing comprehension of the CITES regime and its relationship with the fisheries sector and (iii) where a deliberate decision is made by a country to implement CITES through its national fisheries legal frameworks, providing guidance as to what do it and how to do it.

This Manual introduces the role and impact of successful evidence gathering and processing in combating illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing and describes the pillars for evidence gathering – the national legislation and regional and international obligations. Procedures for gathering the evidence are presented and requirements for arrest are described. The process for prosecutions and administrative procedures are elaborated and follow-up actions described, including IUU vessel listing. Challenges in evidence gathering and advice on how to overcome them are described.

The objective of this manual is to provide a working document for cooperating non-contracting parties to use in the implementation of the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission Resolutions.

This manual will assist Indian Ocean Tuna Commission Members and Cooperating Non-Contracting Parties in better understanding their obligations. It also provides an overview of the Conservation and Management Measures (CMMs).

This publication provides legislative templates to implement the FAO Agreement on Port States Measures to prevent, deter and eliminate illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing. It presents a framework for mainstreaming the core provisions of the agreement into national legislation.