NOAA Schedules Tuna Advisory Webinar Ahead of IATTC Meetings

Why should a hobby tuna angler care about this meeting months before any rule change? Because NOAA’s April 10 notice put the U.S. tuna policy machine in motion long before the next round of commission votes, and the choices made there can filter down to access, conservation measures and the future of Pacific bluefin fishing.

NOAA scheduled a public webinar for the 34th General Advisory Committee to the U.S. Section to the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission and the 19th Scientific Advisory Subcommittee for July 20 and 21, 2026. The sessions will run from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Pacific time each day, and registration must be completed by July 6.

The timing matters because the meeting is designed to help the United States prepare for the 2026 annual cycle of IATTC activity. That cycle includes the Scientific Advisory Committee meeting in June and the full IATTC annual meeting in late August and early September, where the real decisions on tuna policy start to harden.

The agenda is built around the stuff anglers and managers both watch closely: scientific topics, stock-assessment information, updates from working groups and draft U.S. proposals that could be sent to the commission. In practice, that is where the conversation moves from data to policy, and from policy to the rules that shape how tuna fisheries are managed in the eastern Pacific.

For tuna fishing interests on the Pacific side, the IATTC is not an abstract international body. Its decisions affect fisheries tied to Pacific bluefin and other tuna species in the eastern Pacific, along with the broader framework for access, conservation and international coordination. Those are the levers that can eventually influence seasons, limits and how much room fishermen have to work the same water.

The notice also says an executive session may be called to discuss sensitive information, including possible U.S. negotiating positions for the upcoming annual meeting. That is a sign that the U.S. is already sorting out where it wants to push, where it may be flexible and which issues are likely to matter most when the commission sits down later in the year.

For fleets, scientists and anglers who track Pacific tuna policy, July is the first real checkpoint. By the time IATTC meets, the U.S. position will already be taking shape, and that early work can echo all the way back to what happens on the water.