The 29th Session of the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) showed notable progress on critical issues, particularly around labour standards — a key objective for the Global Tuna Alliance. While on the ground giving a voice to its Partners — major retailers, brands, and tuna buyers, including Carrefour, Lidl France and Princes — the Lives On The Line: Protect Fishers campaign achieved wide support for many members. But it’s just the beginning of a long development process for what’s one of several barriers to achieving a more socially responsible and sustainable tuna supply chain.
Here are the three crucial takeaways from this significant meeting and what they mean for the future of tuna fisheries in the Indian Ocean:
Following a proposal by the European Union — and despite disappointing resistance from some IOTC members — the IOTC has initiated a process to address fisher welfare by tasking the Secretariat with benchmarking current labour standards across the Indian Ocean region. This represents the Commission’s first acknowledgement that systematic improvement of working conditions for fishers must be addressed collectively.
While we’re still a few years away from binding standards, the study will lay the groundwork for the development of a future IOTC measure ensuring decent working conditions for fishers at sea.
The IOTC’s response demonstrates how market pressures from retailers and brands can influence regulatory bodies. As Dr Wetjens Dimmlich, GTA’s Advocacy Lead and representative at the meeting, noted: “GTA Partners now have an important role to play in acknowledging and rewarding those fleets that proactively implement their own measures during the likely extended IOTC development process.”
Several IOTC members who also participate in the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) were already part of efforts to adopt minimum crew conditions in 2024. These members are positioned to provide crucial leadership in establishing similar standards in the Indian Ocean, creating cross-regional consistency in labour practices.
For regional and international retailers and supply chain companies that buy tuna from Indian Ocean fisheries, aligning the IOTC with other RFMOs is critical for ensuring working conditions meet the expectations of consumers and partners.
While labour standards were part of the agenda, negotiations on skipjack catch limits consumed disproportionate time at the meeting, highlighting the urgent need for agreed allocation mechanisms among member nations. While progress was slow, a new timeframe through to 2027 for developing these mechanisms was established.
Uncertainty surrounding the recent yellowfin tuna stock assessment undermined progress on management issues, with proposals on catch limits deferred until reviews of the stock assessment data and methods have been completed. Disappointingly, the development of the yellowfin tuna management procedure (harvest strategy) has also been delayed, concerning many GTA Partners who consider this a critical indicator of sustainable management.
The labour standards benchmarking study is expected to inform the creation of a dedicated working group by 2026. While this timeline is longer than ideal, it establishes a clear pathway toward comprehensive labour standards for Indian Ocean tuna fisheries.
What this meeting has shown is that regional fisheries management organisations can respond to changing demands when we raise our voice. As the GTA continues to speak up on behalf of its Partners, retailers and tuna buyers around the world are encouraged to join the GTA to drive meaningful change in fisheries management. Together, we can create tuna fisheries and ecosystems that are healthy and resilient through responsible supply chains and best practice management.