The International Convention for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) annual meeting for 2025 concluded with a positive outcome. This year’s discussions revolved around setting up a total allowable catch (TAC) quota for bluefin tuna for the next three years. Following intensive negotiations based on a proposal from the European Union, an agreement was reached in the final moments, resulting in a significant TAC increase to 48,403 tonnes per year.
As a consequence, the EU will see its fishing opportunities for Eastern and Mediterranean bluefin tuna increase by 3,661 tonnes, for a total of 25,164 tonnes per year, for the benefit of EU fishers.
Costas Kadis, Commissioner for Fisheries and Oceans, said:
“Almost 20 years ago bluefin tuna stock was close to depletion in the EU. In 2007, the EU and ICCAT introduced a multiannual recovery plan. At this year’s ICCAT meeting, after intense negotiations, the EU succeeded in having its proposal approved, and we can provide EU fishers with a 17% increase of bluefin tuna fishing quota for the eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean. This is the result of years of science-based decisions and strict controls: if we trust the conservation process, we will have more stable, higher quotas and better incomes for our fishers, not less.”
This large increase in the TAC reflects successful efforts over the past years to recover tuna stock and shows that bluefin tuna, an iconic species, is thriving once again. The EU has played a crucial role in leading these sustained and substantial efforts to rebuild the stock, focusing on strict conservation measures, robust control, and science-based management.
Additionally, ICCAT decided to allow fewer southern shortfin mako sharks to be caught, following a proposal from the EU. This decision intends to enhance the protection of these sharks and support their quicker recovery.
Unfortunately, ICCAT was not able to agree on a proposal from the EU to increase the TAC for bigeye tuna to set it in line with scientific advice.
On a more positive note, there was support for a process within ICCAT to discuss TAC allocation for yellowfin tuna to address current overshooting issues.
Background
The International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) is the Regional fisheries management organisation (RFMO) responsible for the conservation of tunas and tuna-like species in the Atlantic oceans and adjacent seas. Currently there are 52 contracting parties' delegations, including the EU representing the interests of the EU member states.
The ICCAT annual meeting took place from 17 to 24 November 2025.
About RFMOs
RFMOs make sure that fishing activities do not cause significant adverse impact on biodiversity and marine ecosystems.
Countries with fishing interests in a given geographical area form RFMOs, which are also open to coastal states. Those RMFOs can also be accessed by countries whose fleets have been traditionally fishing in these areas or are interested in participating in these fisheries.
RFMOs have the power to adopt a variety of rules to manage the fishery. They use management tools like catch limits (quota), technical measures, spatial and/or temporal restrictions, and monitoring, control and surveillance activities to ensure compliance with the rules. RFMOs make decisions based on scientific advice provided by their respective scientific bodies and regularly review compliance by their members.
Today, RFMOs cover the majority of the world’s seas. They can broadly be divided into RFMOs focussing only on the management of highly migratory fish stocks, notably tuna and tuna-like species (‘tuna-RFMOs’) and RFMOs that manage other fisheries resources (i.e. pelagic or demersal) in a more specific area.
The EU, represented by the European Commission, plays an active role in 5 tuna-RFMOs and 13 non-tuna RFMOs. This makes the EU one of the most prominent actors in RFMOs worldwide.
More Information
Details
- Publication date
- 27 November 2025
- Author
- Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries