News Azores Declaration

IPNLF, together with the Government of the Azores’ Regional Secretariat for the Sea, Science and Technology,  co-hosted the world’s first one-by-one tuna conference in the Azores. This resulted in the Azores Declaration, establishing a definitive commitment to ensure a sustainable and equitable future for fisheries as well as to prioritise the needs of associated communities and cultures.

IPNLF Staff, Franklin Tavares

This declaration recognises the current strains that one-by-one fisheries are under, from socio-economic and environmental effects to the harsh exploitation that many tuna species are experiencing.

Signed by a total of 50 organizations, government delegates, and industry leaders, The Azores Declaration in Support of One-by-One Tuna Fisheries establishes a definitive commitment to ensure a sustainable and equitable future for fisheries as well as to prioritise the needs of associated communities and cultures that depend on their local fisheries. This includes the acknowledgement of the environmental, social, and economic characteristics of each community, and respecting the heritage of these one-by-one fisheries. The declaration has a strong focus on ensuring that the fisheries have their position represented and reflected in fisheries management across the chain, ensuring respect and support for the workers and the subsequent community. 

Today, the Declaration is still in effect and is referred to in ICCAT RFMO meetings and policy work. 

PNLF, alongside the other participants of the Azores declaration, thus agree to: 

  1. Work towards sustainable and equitable tuna fisheries and to address the needs of the one-by-one tuna fisheries.
  2. Use our collective voice to raise the profile of these fisheries with relevant decision-makers, throughout supply chains, and to consumers to ensure these fisheries can thrive for generations to come.
  3. Take action to support the one-by-one tuna fisheries and the associated communities and marine environments linked to them.

Read more and endorse the Azores Declaration here