The seventh meeting of the Project Steering Committee (PSC) of the Common Oceans ABNJ Tuna Project was held in FAO Headquarters in Rome from 27-28 January 2020.

The Worldwide review of bottom fisheries in the high seas in 2016 is an update to the first Worldwide review of bottom fisheries in the high seas, published in 2009 based on information from 2003 to 2006. It provides states and other interested parties with a summary of the current status of high seas bottom fisheries worldwide. The present, updated review begins with a description of the demersal finfish and shellfish resources, before offering a global perspective on fisheries and management; it then provides specific, regional information over eleven chapters covering the high seas of the world’s oceans, by region. Drawing on data up to and including 2016, it provides a survey of the current state of bottom fisheries since the original Worldwide review, considering these fisheries in the context of their historical evolution.

The project organized, implemented and facilitated two workshops on tuna MP/MSE in the Indian Ocean region. The first workshop was organized in Thailand with participation of Maldives, both important coastal developing states in the Indian Ocean. The second workshop was organized in Republic of Korea considering the importance of Korean tuna fisheries in the Indian Ocean region, in particular, and in all tuna RFMOs in general.

The goal of this workshop was to create a better understanding among Indian Ocean States regarding Management Strategy Evaluation (MSE) and Management Procedures (MP, also called Harvest Strategies) to ensure sustainable management of tunas. Specifically, in this workshop, to leverage the understanding of IOTC process, in general, but of the IOTC MP discussions, in particular, of Republic of Korea.

The Final Global Seabird Bycatch Assessment Workshop was held from 25 February to 1 March 2019. Participants at the workshop are listed in Annex 1; the workshop Agenda is shown in Annex 2. The workshop comprised presentations, data analysis and discussion. Workshop participants agreed to a report format that was focused on Background/Methods/Results/Discussion, in order to present the results of the analyses in the clearest way.