Fishing panel adopts policies to bar shark finning and reduce ocean waste; adopts harvest strategy for albacore; and pledges to consider climate change impacts in its future work.
Sharks and North Pacific albacore tuna—some of the ocean’s top predators—won new protections from the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC). The actions marked conservation successes for the U.S. delegation, who helped negotiate their passage.
“These were important collaborative successes because we had to help bring countries together to support the measures,” said Ryan Wulff, head of the U.S. delegation to the IATTC and Assistant Regional Administrator at NOAA Fisheries. “These measures reflect a united step forward for sustainable albacore fisheries and shark conservation.”…