Pacific Bluefin Tuna Managers Convene in Newport Beach to Advance Harvest Strategy

International managers wrapped up three days of technical negotiations in Newport Beach last week, pressing forward on a long-term harvest strategy for Pacific bluefin tuna at a meeting that put hard-won science from 2025 directly on the table.

The Joint IATTC and WCPFC-Northern Committee Working Group on the Management of Pacific Bluefin Tuna held its third intersessional session, designated JWGI03, from March 11 through 13 at the California coastal city. The working group convened in a hybrid format, with some participants attending in person and others joining remotely. Masanori Miyahara, serving as WCPFC Northern Committee Chair, co-chaired the proceedings, according to the provisional agenda filed under document reference IATTC-NC-JWGI03-2026/02.

The centerpiece of the three-day agenda was the long-term harvest strategy, which consumed the bulk of items three through five. Co-Chairs opened that block by presenting a summary of the strategy's development to date along with expectations for 2026. The ISC, which completed a Management Strategy Evaluation in 2025, was scheduled to deliver a summary of those MSE results along with relevant updates and resources available to support management decisions. From there, working group members were set to dig into the core technical elements: harvest control rules, reference points, and related issues. The co-chairs were expected to work alongside members to develop any resulting recommendations or requests.

Two other significant agenda items flanked the harvest strategy discussion. On the traceability side, co-chairs provided an update on development of the Catch Documentation Scheme for Pacific bluefin tuna, again flagging expectations for the coming year. On enforcement, working group members reviewed existing Monitoring Control and Surveillance measures, specifically IATTC resolution C-24-03 and WCPFC measure 2024-02, and discussed approaches to updating both measures during 2026.

The provisional agenda offers the clearest window into what JWGI03 addressed, but it does not contain the text of any decisions, adopted recommendations, or the final report approved under agenda item seven. The actual MSE results, any proposed harvest control rule thresholds, and the substance of the CDS update presented by the co-chairs remain outside what has been made publicly available from the meeting documents. The adopted report, once released, should provide the authoritative account of what the working group agreed upon heading into the second half of 2026.