WCPFC Publishes Compiled Monitoring, Control and Surveillance Measures for Pacific Bluefin Tuna

WCPFC posted JWGI03-2026/WP-01 on 18 February 2026, publishing a compiled information paper titled "Compiled Information on Monitoring, Controlling, and Surveillance Measures for Pacific Bluefin Tuna" ahead of the Third Session of the Joint IATTC and WCPFC-NC Working Grou. A separate compilation of Conservation and Management Measures and Resolutions for the Commission was timestamped 19 February 2026 at 15:49 and includes page references to WCPFC22 outcomes on pages 22 and 25 and a list of current CMMs as at 24 December 2024 on page 6.

The compiled list on page 6 identifies CMM 2024-01 as "Conservation and Management Measure for Pacific Bluefin tuna" and preserves a chain of replaced measures stretching back through CMM 2023-02, 2021-02, 2020-02 and earlier instruments. The papers link monitoring measures to CMM 2024-02 and to IATTC instruments including Resolution C-24-02 and Resolution C-24-03, with the IATTC extract stating that "new measures related to Monitoring Control and Surveillance (MCS) are now in force per WCPFC CMM 2024-02 and IATTC Resolution C-24-03."

Reporting and registration requirements are emphasized in the draft reporting template language preserved in the posting. The template instructs that "Each CCM/CPC that has Pacific bluefin tuna fisheries and/or farming shall report to the Executive Director/Director by 15 June each year on the implementation of its monitoring and control measures it has taken in the previous calendar year to ensure its compliance with CMM2024-01/Resolution C-24-02." The draft also calls for registration of commercial fishing vessels under the WCPFC Record of Fishing Vessels in accordance with CMM 2018-06 and registration in the IATTC Regional Vessel Register per Resolution C-24-07, and it begins to enumerate reporting for set nets and by-catches in truncated template fragments.

Electronic reporting and monitoring are prominent in the compiled narrative. The document states plainly, "Even before a formal program is in place, many WCPFC members are moving ahead with electronic monitoring and reporting on their own." It records concrete pilot innovations including "solar-powered camera systems in longline fleets" and "development of machine learning tools to automatically analyze video footage." The ERandEM-IWG summary also flags persistent obstacles: "There have been challenges: agreeing on standardized data formats, addressing the costs of equipment and training (especially for small island nations), and ensuring that electronic records can be used as credible evidence for enforcement," while noting progress through "interim standards, pilot programs, and increasing buy-in from all stakeholders."

Compliance and inspection procedures figure in WCPFC22 material cited on page 22. "The Commission shall keep under continuous review the implementation and operation of these procedures, including review of annual reports relating to these procedures provided by Members," and the materials direct members to use an Annex 2 template to report "how authorized vessels have enhanced their monitoring efforts" and "how many vessels used the alternative measures in the previous year."

Scientific inputs and the review pathway are also documented: the ISC Pacific Bluefin Tuna Working Group "will provide JWG10 with updates on projection results based on CMM 2024-01 and Resolution C-24-02 using the 2024 benchmark stock assessment," and the intersessional process anticipates review by JWG-10 and subsequent consideration by the appropriate WCPFC and IATTC committees. Several fragments in the posted files are truncated, leaving Annex 2, the full CMM 2024-02 text, and the complete JWGI03-2026/WP-01 attachments as the missing elements needed to operationalize the 15 June reporting cycle and the inspection templates the Commission has directed.