Southern bluefin tuna meeting does not adopt new seabird measures

The story in brief

What you need to know

• The reported outcome separates identifying risk from acting on it: priority species and high-risk areas were agreed, but the proposed additional measures were not. The account of this decision currently rests on Mongabay’s reporting, rather than published CCSBT minutes in the supplied material.12
• The Australia–New Zealand proposal concerned additional mandatory measures to reduce seabird bycatch in the fishery. Mongabay reports that members did not adopt it; the supplied reporting does not specify the full content of the proposed measures.1
• Mongabay describes differing positions among members: Taiwan sought further technical assessment, Japan said the proposal needed careful examination, and South Korea favoured gradual progress. These explanations are reported accounts and are not independently corroborated here by meeting minutes.1
• The wider conservation context is substantial: a joint CCSBT–FAO assessment estimated at least 30,000 seabirds caught annually as bycatch in the Southern Hemisphere pelagic longline fisheries it assessed. This figure applies across those assessed fisheries, not specifically to southern bluefin tuna.3
• The sources connect risk assessment and the identification of hotspots with the potential to target mitigation and monitoring. They also indicate limitations in the underlying data and modelling, which constrain what can be concluded about particular fisheries.3

Conservation context

Why this matters

Albatrosses are among the seabirds at risk from longline fishing, and the reported meeting outcome leaves the proposed additional mandatory measures unadopted despite agreement on priority species and risk areas. The broader bycatch estimate shows why the issue matters, but cannot establish the scale of mortality in this fishery alone.13

The developing story

What happens next

Mongabay reports that members are expected to return to the proposed measures at a CCSBT intersessional meeting in March 2027 and at the next annual meeting. The supplied material does not establish what measures, if any, will then be agreed.1

Established evidence

What we know

• The CCSBT’s official meeting page confirms that its 33rd annual meeting took place in Brussels from 5 to 8 October 2026.2
• The joint CCSBT–FAO assessment’s estimate of at least 30,000 seabirds a year covers assessed Southern Hemisphere pelagic longline fisheries, rather than the southern bluefin tuna fishery alone.3
• The assessment identifies seabird bycatch risk in the broader fisheries it examined and discusses mitigation approaches; risk assessment and hotspot mapping can inform targeted action.3

Open questions

What we don't know

• The supplied sources do not provide a reliable mortality estimate attributable specifically to southern bluefin tuna longlining; Mongabay reports that data gaps prevent a fishery-specific figure.13
• The detailed account of the meeting’s seabird decision and member positions has not been independently verified by published CCSBT minutes in the supplied material.12
• The supplied sources do not establish whether members will agree additional measures at the reported March 2027 meeting or the next annual meeting.1
• The reporting raises questions about improving monitoring and addressing reported non-compliance with existing seabird measures, but the supplied material does not set out how members will resolve them.1

Source coverage

Read the reporting