United States Wins Key Measures Benefiting U.S. Fisheries on Pacific Bluefin Tuna and Ensuring Research on Dorado and Billfish

During recent international negotiations, the U.S. delegation to the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission advanced key American economic and conservation priorities. The successes support Executive Order 14276 on "Restoring America's Seafood Competitiveness" by improving U.S. fishing opportunities, leveling the playing field for U.S. commercial fishermen, and modernizing ocean governance.

At the September 2026 Commission annual meeting in Lisbon, Portugal, 21 nations built consensus on high-priority fisheries and issues, including:

• Pacific bluefin tuna
• Electronic monitoring
• South Pacific albacore
• Dorado, South Pacific swordfish, and other billfish
• Sharks and seabirds

Pacific Bluefin Tuna Management

• Secured quota allocations that increase harvest opportunities on the U.S. West Coast while maintaining sustainable stock rebuilding targets
• Adopted a modern and responsive management procedure for Pacific bluefin tuna that ensures productive and sustainable harvests over the long term, marking a historic milestone as the first such procedure adopted by the Commission

Electronic Monitoring Standards

• Advanced U.S. initiatives by allowing for the submission of electronic monitoring data to the Commission

Dorado

• Developed a long-term research plan to strengthen assessment and management of dorado stocks

South Pacific Swordfish and Billfish

• Secured agreement to hold an international South Pacific swordfish workshop to improve data collection, including data on new and innovative ring gear or traplines
• Agreed to convene a billfish workshop to develop a work plan for data collection and stock assessments

Shark Conservation

• Secured a rollover of existing "fins naturally attached" measures that combat shark finning-originally set to expire at the end of 2026-to prevent a reversal in progress on this issue
• Won agreement for a shark research plan to modernize data collection, improve stock assessments, and make fisheries management more responsive

South Pacific Albacore

• Tasked Commission staff to develop a work plan for research, expected results, timelines, and data requirements to manage the South Pacific albacore stock in a timely and responsive way
• Advanced a Joint Working Group with the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission on South Pacific albacore to foster regional cooperation and collaboration on compatible management measures, which will also improve understanding of stocks and contribute to a Pacific-wide benchmark stock assessment

Ocean Fish Aggregating Device Recovery Alliance

• Encouraged other members to participate in the new Ocean Fish Aggregating Device Recovery Alliance to support projects focused on tracking, retrieving, and removing fish aggregating devices that can impact vulnerable marine habitats
• The U.S. purse seine fishery has spearheaded this effort with groups from several other countries to reduce impacts from the devices

The Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission adopted a 3-year tropical tuna measure last year to continue longstanding measures and reduce purse seine closures. This year, members-including the United States-offered several new tropical tuna proposals, including a management process to modernize tropical tuna management. This procedure would have reduced closure days to reflect the healthy status of the stocks. At the same time, several members pushed for increases in purse seine capacity, which the United States did not support because of expected impacts on U.S. fleets and markets. In the end, no consensus was reached on tropical tunas, and last year's measure continues to apply.