This paper discusses the potential value of catch documentation schemes (CDS) in deep-sea fisheries (DSF), and the implementation modalities that have to be envisaged, to ensure the effectiveness of this trade-based tool to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing. The paper argues that CDS are indeed capable of directly addressing a number of IUU fishing practices known to occur in DSF, and that their adoption would improve compliance with fisheries management requirements. Key infringements that may be directly detected and addressed through a CDS include – but are not limited to – violations of closed areas harbouring protected vulnerable marine ecosystems (VMEs) in the deep ocean, and quota overfishing. The paper also establishes the notion that partial coverage of given species through a CDS at the level of individual RFMOs is incongruous from a trade monitoring and control perspective, and that CDS should be considered as either/or propositions with regard to species coverage. With most DSF species having broad distributions straddling many RFMOs, the implementation modality that avails itself as the most suitable option, enabling the operation of an effective CDS, is that of a centrally operated electronic CDS platform – called a super-CDS – shared by a plurality of institutional and state players.

The objective of the following report is to present a business case focusing on the identification and assessment of opportunities for investment in Yellow Fin Tuna (YFT) monitoring, control and surveillance (MCS) within India’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in the Bay of Bengal, which might be attractive to either (or both)  private or public investors. The work was undertaken in late 2018 as part of the World Bank/GEF-funded Oceans Partnership Programme in the Bay of Bengal (OPP-BOB), hosted by the Bay of Bengal Inter-Governmental Organisation (BOBP-IGO) in Chennai.

This publication is intended to provide a range of stakeholders and interested parties with an understanding of orange roughy fisheries around the world. The report covers historical aspects of the regional development of orange roughy fisheries, biology, stock assessment, ecosystem interactions, and key management issues. Recent developments in science and approaches to management are specifically highlighted with respect to future management of sustainable deepwater orange roughy fisheries. The sustainability of orange roughy fisheries, or other fisheries for long-lived deepwater species, has been widely discussed. These reviews invariably draw on the common global experience of previous poor understanding about orange roughy productivity, rapid development of targeted industrial fisheries, the associated likelihood of overfishing and extended timescales for stock recovery, and an ensuing series of “boom and bust” orange roughy fisheries that frequently resulted in depleted stocks.

The Government of Ghana, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), and the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF) have formed a partnership under the Common Oceans Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (ABNJ) Tuna Project funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and implemented by FAO to pilot Electronic Monitoring System (EMS) technologies in Ghana.  The objective of this study is to support a business case for EMS in the Ghanaian fleet, including options for financin a permanent implementation of the system. 

The Government of Ghana, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), and the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF) have formed a partnership under the Common Oceans Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (ABNJ) Tuna Project funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and implemented by FAO to pilot EMS technologies in Ghana. The objective for the project was to support building a business case for EMS in the Ghanaian fleet, including options for financing a permanent implementation of the system. The business case is intended to inform the Ghanaian Government of the capital and recurrent costs of equipment and operations as well as required legislative changes and institutional arrangements necessary to utilize the EMS as an enforcement tool.