Data & Transparency

Goals

The undersigned organizations strongly agree that transparency and accountability across global tuna fisheries is currently inadequate to ensure the sustainability of global tuna fisheries and their ecosystems.

What follows is a set of expectations that must be addressed without delay by both RFMOs and industry alike to ensure global tuna fisheries and their ecosystems are sustainably managed in a transparent manner.

View RFMO Expectations

View Market and Supply Chain Partner Expectations

View RFMO/Market Integrated Expectations

RFMO Expectations

Empty

Adequate Monitoring of All Tuna Vessels

Catch Data

Require that all vessels that target tuna record the amount and species of catch, bycatch, discards, and effort.

Support the collection of independent data on catch, bycatch, and effort through use of dockside-monitoring, sale receipts, remote detection technologies.

Vessel Monitoring: Observers/EM/VMS

Require industrial tuna vessels to be fully monitored by human observers and/or electronic monitoring; and implement methods to adequately monitor all other vessels.

Require all industrial tuna vessels to have a VMS system onboard, with VMS position provided to the relevant RFMO Secretariat in near-real time.

Improved Data Collection, Reporting and Sharing for Purposes of Management, Science, Compliance and Accountability

Collection and Reporting

Establish comprehensive electronic reporting systems and monitoring programs with sufficient capacity to implement.

Require that logbooks, transshipment and landing declarations, and observer reports are submitted to the proper authorities in a timely manner.

Improve the collection and reporting all necessary data by flag and coastal states; enhance RFMO data requirements to ensure timely and quality data for scientific, management and/or compliance purposes.

Compliance

Strengthen RFMO compliance mechanisms to ensure these processes are transparent and robust so that members are held accountable for the implementation of all conservation management measures and data reporting requirements and there are clear consequences for non-compliance.

Public Access to Information, with Limited Restrictions Only When Necessary

Access

Provide timely public access to reported data, with only limited restrictions to meet legal and safety commitments.

Policy and Procedures

Develop policies and procedures to ensure the RFMO, government fisheries managers, and fisheries scientists, have timely access to data for the purposes of science, research, management, and compliance.

Implementation of Policies and Systems that Facilitate Compliance and Accountability

Verification of Implementation

Require verification/validation of implementation of RFMO measures through compliance mechanisms and use a variety of monitoring, control, and surveillance tools to verify self-reported data and to monitor compliance.

Compliance Procedures

Adopt and implement clear and transparent policies and procedures for addressing non-compliance, including predefined consequences that include capacity assistance and/or penalties that are enforced and publicly reported.

Market and Supply Chain Partner Expectations

Empty

Adequate Monitoring of All Tuna Vessels

Catch Data

Require your supply chain collects data on catch, bycatch, discards and effort in the logbooks, transshipment and landing declarations.

Support the collection of independent data on catch, bycatch, and effort through use of dockside-monitoring, sale receipts, remote detection technologies.

Vessel Monitoring: Observers/EM/VMS

Advocate to RFMOs and national governments for 100% observer coverage in industrial tuna fisheries, and adequate levels of monitoring in all other tuna fisheries – through electronic and/or human observation.

Ultimately require 100% observer coverage – through electronic and/or human observation – in your tuna supply chains, MSC-certified fisheries, and FIPs.

Advocate to RFMOs to require VMS systems onboard all industrial tuna vessels, and that VMS position data is provided to the relevant RFMO in near-real time.

Improved Data Collection, Reporting and Sharing for Purposes of Management, Science, Compliance and Accountability

Collection and Reporting

Have traceability mechanisms and transparent policies in place to verify availability of harvest and supply chain data.

Compliance

Require that data collected and reported from your supply chains is in full compliance with all required RFMO conservation measures and reporting obligations.

Publish your organization’s sustainability commitments and supplier expectations, and make public verified information that your commitments and supplier expectations are being met.

Public Access to Information, with Limited Restrictions Only When Necessary

Access

Make publicly accessible key sourcing and catch information, such as identity and type of vessel sourced from, catch certification information, fishery/product information, bycatch information, and transshipment events if any.

Advocate to RFMOs to provide public access to reported data, with only limited restrictions to meet legal and safety commitments.

Implementation of Policies and Systems that Facilitate Compliance and Accountability

Verification of Implementation

Advocate for verification/validation of implementation of RFMO measures through compliance mechanisms and use a variety of monitoring, control, and surveillance tools to verify self-reported data and to monitor compliance.

Compliance Procedures

Advocate for the adoption and implementation clear and transparent policies and procedures for addressing non-compliance, including predefined consequences that include capacity assistance and/or penalties that are enforced and publicly reported.

RFMO/Market Integrated Expectations

Test

Adequate Monitoring of All Tuna Vessels

We Expect RFMOs to:	We Expect Markets, Supply Chain Partners to:
Catch Data
Require that all vessels that target tuna record the amount and species of catch, bycatch, discards, and effort.	Require your supply chain collects data on catch, bycatch, discards and effort in the logbooks, transshipment and landing declarations.
Support the collection of independent data on catch, bycatch, and effort through use of dockside-monitoring, sale receipts, remote detection technologies.	Support the collection of independent data on catch, bycatch, and effort through use of dockside-monitoring, sale receipts, remote detection technologies.
Vessel Monitoring: Observers/EM/VMS
Require industrial tuna vessels to be fully monitored by human observers and/or electronic monitoring; and implement methods to adequately monitor all other vessels.	Advocate to RFMOs and national governments for 100% observer coverage in industrial tuna fisheries, and adequate levels of monitoring in all other tuna fisheries – through electronic and/or human observation.
	Ultimately require 100% observer coverage – through electronic and/or human observation – in your tuna supply chains, MSC-certified fisheries, and FIPs.
Require all industrial tuna vessels to have a VMS system onboard, with VMS position provided to the relevant RFMO Secretariat in near-real time.	Advocate to RFMOs to require VMS systems onboard all industrial tuna vessels, and that VMS position data is provided to the relevant RFMO in near-real time.

Improved Data Collection, Reporting and Sharing for Purposes of Management, Science, Compliance and Accountability

We Expect RFMOs to:	We Expect Markets, Supply Chain Partners to:
Collection and Reporting
Establish comprehensive electronic reporting systems and monitoring programs with sufficient capacity to implement.	Have traceability mechanisms and transparent policies in place to verify availability of harvest and supply chain data.
Require that logbooks, transshipment and landing declarations, and observer reports are submitted to the proper authorities in a timely manner.
Improve the collection and reporting all necessary data by flag and coastal states; enhance RFMO data requirements to ensure timely and quality data for scientific, management and/or compliance purposes.
Compliance
Strengthen RFMO compliance mechanisms to ensure these processes are transparent and robust so that members are held accountable for the implementation of all conservation management measures and data reporting requirements and there are clear consequences for non-compliance.	Require that data collected and reported from your supply chains is in full compliance with all required RFMO conservation measures and reporting obligations.
	Publish your organization’s sustainability commitments and supplier expectations, and make public verified information that your commitments and supplier expectations are being met.

Public Access to Information, with Limited Restrictions Only When Necessary

We Expect RFMOs to:	We Expect Markets, Supply Chain Partners to:
Access
Provide timely public access to reported data, with only limited restrictions to meet legal and safety commitments.	Make publicly accessible key sourcing and catch information, such as identity and type of vessel sourced from, catch certification information, fishery/product information, bycatch information, and transshipment events if any.
	Advocate to RFMOs to provide public access to reported data, with only limited restrictions to meet legal and safety commitments.
Policy and Procedures
Develop policies and procedures to ensure the RFMO, government fisheries managers, and fisheries scientists, have timely access to data for the purposes of science, research, management, and compliance.

Implementation of Policies and Systems that Facilitate Compliance and Accountability

We Expect RFMOs to:	We Expect Markets, Supply Chain Partners to:
Verification of Implementation
Require verification/validation of implementation of RFMO measures through compliance mechanisms and use a variety of monitoring, control, and surveillance tools to verify self-reported data and to monitor compliance.	Advocate for verification/validation of implementation of RFMO measures through compliance mechanisms and use a variety of monitoring, control, and surveillance tools to verify self-reported data and to monitor compliance.
Compliance Procedures
Adopt and implement clear and transparent policies and procedures for addressing non-compliance, including predefined consequences that include capacity assistance and/or penalties that are enforced and publicly reported.	Advocate for the adoption and implementation clear and transparent policies and procedures for addressing non-compliance, including predefined consequences that include capacity assistance and/or penalties that are enforced and publicly reported.