What you need to know about the forthcoming IOTC allocation meeting on 14–17 July.
The Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) is the regional body responsible for managing tuna fisheries across the Indian Ocean. As one of the world’s largest regional fisheries management organisations (RFMOs), its decisions shape how much tuna and tuna-like species each country is allowed to catch.
As such, it directly affects small-scale fishers, coastal communities, retailers, processors, and sustainability efforts across the tuna supply chain. Moreover, the IOTC is unusual among tuna RFMOs in that 50% of catches come from artisanal fishers. This means that management decisions have a particularly direct and significant impact on small-scale fisheries.
Around 30 states are members of the IOTC. These include coastal states such as Indonesia, India, Maldives, and Kenya, as well as members with distant-water fishing fleets such as the EU, Japan, China, and South Korea. Many IOTC members are developing coastal states that rely on tuna for food security, livelihoods, and economic development.
The IOTC calendar includes meetings of working groups and committees as well as the full Commission which usually meets once annually (this year in April). The Technical Committee on Allocation Criteria (TCAC) has been meeting since 2011 and generally meets twice a year. This fifteenth meeting on allocation criteria will take place from 14 to 17 July 2025 in Tanzania.
Who is attending the July meeting?
Delegations from over 30 member countries are expected to attend. These delegations will include government officials, fisheries managers, and technical advisers. A small number of NGOs and other observers will also participate. The meeting will bring together representatives of both coastal states and distant-water fishing nations.
What is being negotiated?
The key task is to agree on a fair system for dividing the total allowable catch of key tuna species—yellowfin, bigeye, skipjack, and albacore—as well as swordfish. This has been under discussion since 2011 but the negotiations have been conflict-laden and slow.
Several complex issues remain unresolved, including:
Arguably the most contentious issue to be discussed at TCAC15 is how to define historical catch taken from waters under national jurisdiction by distant water fleets operating under access agreements. That is, should this catch count as historical catch of the coastal state or of the flag state of the distant fishing vessel? This definition has important implications for equity and the meaning in practice of sovereign rights of coastal states in their national waters.
The IOTC Secretariat is due to present data on estimated catches by foreign fleets in coastal Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs), while the Chair is due to present a paper with different options aimed at balancing interests and concerns.
The IOTC Secretariat will also share research on potential proxies for fisheries productivity and artisanal catch history (such as biomass and EEZ size) so that these can be factored into the historical catch calculations of data-poor fisheries.
Why does this matter?
A fair allocation system is essential to:
This is not just a technical issue; it directly affects equity, sustainability, and the long-term future of tuna fisheries in the Indian Ocean.
What outcome is expected?
This meeting is unlikely to deliver a final agreement. However, it is expected to result in incremental progress, such as clarifying options on catch history, improving data availability, and possibly building consensus on certain principles.
The process will likely continue through further meetings before an allocation system is finalised.
IPNLF supports an allocation system that:
IPNLF encourages a system that provides opportunities for all, rather than one that locks in the advantages of countries with large, established fleets.
How can IPNLF members engage?
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