E - Iccat

ICCAT REPORT 2002-2003 (II)
4.4 REPORT OF THE WORKING GROUP TO DEVELOP INTEGRATED AND COORDINATED
ATLANTIC BLUEFIN TUNA MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES (Dublin, Ireland, 15 November 2003)
1. Opening of the Meeting
The meeting was opened by the Commission Chairman, Mr. Masanori Miyahara.
2. Election of the Chairman
The Panel 2 Chairman, Mr. François Gauthiez (EC-France) was elected chair of the Working Group.
3. Appointment of the Rapporteur
Ms. Erika Carlsen (United States) was appointed Rapporteur for the Working Group. The List of Participants is
attached as Appendix 1 to ANNEX 4.4.
4. Adoption of the Agenda
The group discussed the draft agenda with regard to the functioning and future work plan for the Working
Group. In discussions, the group developed and adopted an agenda for the next meeting of Working Group
(Appendix 2 to ANNEX 4.4). It was decided that the substantive work under items 5 and 6 of the revised
agenda would be deferred to the next meeting of the Working Group, which the EC offered to host in France.
5. Review of information relevant to stock structure and mixing
and
6. Develop alternative options for managing Atlantic bluefin tuna and consideration of the feasibility of
alternative scenarios
Agenda items 5 and 6 were deferred to the next meeting of the Working Group.
7. Other matters
The Chairman reviewed the organization of the next meeting of the Working Group, especially with regard to
agenda items 5 and 6 and the process of identifying scientists to present information on bluefin tuna stock
structure and mixing. The Working Group decided that Parties would be responsible for identifying scientists to
present information and participate in the future discussions of the Working Group. It was also agreed that the
identification of scientists would be made in close consultation with the SCRS Chair. The next meeting was
tentatively scheduled for May of 2004 in France and it was agreed that the meeting should be not be less than 4
days in length. Following the revised agenda and the terms of reference of the Working Group, it was agreed that
the first part of the meeting would involve scientific presentations on information relevant to stock structure and
mixing, including biological, historical fisheries data, and other information. The other part of the meeting would
involve consideration of alternative management options and the feasibility of alternative scenarios. It was also
agreed that the scientific part and the management part of meeting should not be separated and be relevant to
each other. The Working Group will report on its work from the 2004 meeting at the 2004 meeting of
Commission, including any possible recommendations resulting from the joint working group of ICCAT and
SCRS and other scientific experts.
The Working Group instructed the SCRS Chairman to propose an overview presentation of the current state of
knowledge on the issue.
It was also noted by Canada that the ongoing work of the Working Group did not preclude Panel 2 from
continuing to develop recommendations for the appropriate management of Atlantic bluefin tuna.
128