In this infographic, updated in May 2025, ISSF benchmarks tuna Regional Fisheries Management Organization (RFMO) requirements for compliance processes against best practices.
The infographic tracks priority areas for reform, indicating whether an RFMO has the priority reform in place, has a partial reform in place, or does not have a reform in place.
See the related RFMO Best Practices Snapshot — 2025: Compliance Processes.
ISSF has benchmarked the transshipment measures established by the four tropical-tuna RFMOs — the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC), International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC), and Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) — to 10 best-practice recommendations.
Our infographic, updated in May 2025, rates and compares the RFMOs’ performances on those best practices. It also appears in our Web feature, “At-Sea Transshipment in Tuna Fisheries: Why Oversight Is Essential for Sustainability.”
See also our related items: RFMO Best Practices Snapshot — 2025: Transshipment Regulation and ISSF 2023-06: Transshipment: Strengthening Tuna RFMO Transshipment Regulations.
This “snapshot” identifies best practices in tuna RFMO treatment of supply & tender vessels, and then shows each RFMO’s progress in implementing those practices. It was updated in May 2025.
See our related report, ISSF 2025-04: Survey of the Treatment of Support/Supply/Tender Vessels in Tuna RFMOs.*
This “snapshot” identifies best practices in compliance processes, and then shows each RFMO’s progress in implementing those practices. The snapshot was updated in May 2025.
See our related report, ISSF 2023-05: Tuna RFMO Compliance Assessment Processes: A Comparative Analysis to Identify Best Practices.*
This “snapshot” identifies best practices in observer requirements, and then shows each RFMO’s progress in implementing those practices. The snapshot was updated in May 2025.
See our related report, ISSF 2023-08: Survey of RFMO Observer Programs and a Set of Best Practices.*
This “snapshot” identifies best practices in Fish Aggregating Device (FAD) management, and then shows each RFMO’s progress in implementing those practices. The snapshot was updated in May 2025.
This “snapshot” identifies best practices in tuna RFMO transshipment regulations, and then shows each RFMO’s progress in implementing those practices. This snapshot was updated in May 2025.
See our related report, ISSF 2023-06: Transshipment: Strengthening Tuna RFMO Transshipment Regulations.*
This timeline graphic, developed in March 2025, shows 2011–2024 milestones in efforts by all tuna Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (RFMOs) to develop management strategy evaluations (MSE) and precautionary management procedures (MP) for albacore, bigeye, bluefin, and skipjack tuna stocks.
This infographic identifies solutions to several potential negative impacts of Fish Aggregating Devices (FADs), and then tracks four tuna Regional Fisheries Management Organizations’ implementation of the solutions.
It is based on the peer-reviewed research article “Benefits, concerns, and solutions of fishing for tunas with drifting fish aggregation devices,” co-authored by ISSF’s Dr. Victor Restrepo and Dr. Gala Moreno and colleagues, which was published July 2023 in Fish and Fisheries.
The infographic was updated in March 2025.
All tuna RFMOs have made progress in using electronic monitoring (EM) systems to provide on-board vessel monitoring.
RFMOs begin using data received from EM systems for scientific and/or compliance purposes approximately two years after the adoption of EM minimum standards: one year for program implementation, and an additional year for data review and submission. However, for those CPCs currently implementing an EM program, this timeline could be shortened to one year.
