Breadcrumbs

 

ICCAT - International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas

 

 

Description

ICCAT organization was signed in 1966 and has, currently, 55 Contracting Parties. It is responsible for the management and conservation of tuna and tuna-like species in the Atlantic Ocean and adjacent seas.
 

Geographical Area

 

 

 Fishing Gears (PT)

  • Surface Longliners
  • Pole-and-line
  • Traps


Espécies

  • Bluefin tuna: Thunnus thynnus
  • Southern Bluefin tuna: Thunnus maccoyii
  • Yellowfin tuna: Thunnus albacares
  • Albacore tuna: Thunnus alalunga
  • Bigeye tuna: Thunnus obesus
  • Blackfin tuna: Thunnus atlanticus
  • Little tunny: Euthynnus alletteratus
  • Skipjack: Katsuwonus pelamis
  • Atlantic Bonito: Sarda sarda
  • Frigate tuna: Auxis thazard
  • Bullet tuna: Auxis rochei
  • Plain Bonito: Orcynopsis unicolor
  • Wahoo: Acanthocybium solandri
  • Atlantic Spanish Mackerel: Scomberomorus maculatus
  • West African Spanish Mackerel: Scomberomorus tritor
  • Atlantic Sailfish: Istiophorus albicans
  • Black Marlin: Makaira indica
  • Blue Marlin: Makaira nigricans
  • Atlantic White Marlin: Tetrapturus albidus
  • Swordfish: Xiphias gladius
  • Longbill spearfish: Tetrapturus pfluegeri.


Species with special catch, registration and control schemes

Ban on the capture of shortfin mako sharks (Isurus oxyrinchus) in the Atlantic Ocean

  • NORTH stock and SOUTH stock

All fishing fleets operating in the North and South Atlantic are prohibited from retaining on board, transhipping, or landing any part or whole of any shortfin mako shark, even if caught in conjunction with other ICCAT species.
 

 Prohibited species - Sharks: In the regulatory area of ICCAT It is prohibited to:

  • keep on board, tranship or land any part of carcass or whole carcass of Bigeye thresher ( Alopias superciliosus ) in any fishery;
  • engage in direct fishing for species of Bigeye thresher of the family Alopias;
  • keep on board, to transship or to land any part of carcass or whole carcass of smooth hammerhead sharks of the family of Sphyrnidae (with the exception of Sphyrna tiburo ) in association with a fishery carried out in the ICCAT Convention area;
  • keep on board, tranship or land any part of carcass or whole carcass of oceanic white tip shark ( Carcharhinus longimanus ) caught in any fishery;
  • keep on board silky shark ( Carcharhinus falciformis ) caught in any kind of fishery;
  • caught, keep on board, transship or to land any part of carcass or whole carcass of North and South Atlantic Shortfin Mako ( Isurus oxyrinchus ) stock ;
  • And basking shark (Cetorhinus maximus) and white shark (Carcharodon carcharias).

 

Bycatch

Vessels fishing with surface longlines south of 20º South shall use tori lines to deter seabirds in order to limit and, if possible, eliminate the incidental capture of seabirds.

 

BFT Bycatches - Mainland

For longliners, the level of bycatch is up to a maximum of five specimens of the total ICCAT species kept on board per fishing trip, provided that it does not exceed 10% of the total catch kept on board at the time of landing, not counting the heaviest specimen;

For other vessels, except for those licensed for gillnets, the bycatch limit is one specimen per fishing trip.

 

Bycatches of tropical tunas namely:

Yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares), skipjack tuna (Katsuwonus pelamis) and bigeye tuna (Thunnus obesus), are set at the following percentages, without prejudice to the authorization to land one specimen, regardless of the other limits:

  1. Vessels with a home port on the mainland - 15% of the total catch, by weight, retained on board at the time of landing per trip;
  2. Vessels with an overall length of 20 meters or more, regardless of their home port - 5% per species, by weight, of the total catch retained on board at the time of landing per trip.

 

Bluefin Tuna – Fishing Plan

The adoption of a management plan, in accordance with the active ICCAT Recommendation (https://www.iccat.int/Documents/Recs/compendiopdf-e/2025-04-e.pdf), which establishes guidelines for the submission of fishing plans by Contracting Parties in accordance with the established rules, namely the rules and calculation in terms of bycatch.

Given the small size of the national quota, fishing for this species is limited to the artisanal fleet of the Outermost Regions, the Azores, and Madeira, and to traps.

 

Eligibility conditions for vessels

  • Have a valid fishing license in accordance with art.º6 of the Control Regulation ( Regulation (EC) No. 1224/2009)
  • Having number IMO if required under Union law;
  • The fishing vessel is not on a list of IUU vessels adopted by a RFMO and/or the Union under the IUU Regulation;
  • Have a vessel monitoring system (VMS) installed and operational;
  • Have an electronic recording and reporting system installed and operational (ERS);
  • Have valid certificates of navigation and compliance;
  • To be on the ICCAT authorized vessel list ;
  • To hold valid certificates of navigation and compliance.

 

Legislation