PREPARATION OF THIS DOCUMENT

FAO.

Research implications of adopting the precautionary approach to management of tuna fisheries. FAO Fisheries Circular. No. 963. Rome, FAO. 2001. 74p.

ABSTRACT

This Circular presents the main outcome of the Expert Consultation on Implications of the Precautionary Approach for Tuna Biological and Technological Research held in Phuket, Thailand, from 7 to 15 March 2000. The administrative Report of the Consultation is also presented in the Circular as Appendix 3. The Consultation was organized in response to the adoption of the precautionary approach to fisheries management in: (a) the Agreement for the Implementation of the Provisions of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea of 10 December 1982 Relating to the Conservation and Management of Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks and (b) the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries.

The Circular presents the implications of the precautionary approach for stock assessment, biological and environmental research and data collection. They apply to principal market tunas and most important billfishes. It addresses the need for the identification, quantification and reduction of major sources of uncertainties in the knowledge on species being targeted by fisheries, by-catch species and those ecologically-related and on their physical environment, particularly on the impact of fisheries on them. This quantification and reduction of uncertainties necessitates improvements to the existing methods and the developments of new methods. The reductions in the uncertainties may allow the adoption and implementation of safer and more optimal fishing regimes, potentially benefitting the industry and the community at large.