ICCAT sets early‑February tuna tagging, port inspection and late‑February SC‑STATS meetings

ICCAT has moved into a busy stretch of intersessional business that matters for anyone tracking Atlantic tuna data, compliance and tagging programs. The commission’s live calendar recorded an online "Ad Hoc Working Group on Coordination of Tagging Information" on 3 February and an online "Port Inspection Expert Group for Capacity Building and Assi" on 4 February, and the Secretariat issued a formal circular confirming an online Subcommittee on Statistics meeting for 24-25 February.

The February 3 tagging session brings attention to coordination of tagging databases and recapture reporting that feed stock assessments and management advice. The Feb 4 listing on the calendar is truncated at "Assi" so the full meeting title and details are not shown; verify the calendar entry for the complete text and any conveners or agenda items before relying on it. Port inspection work links directly to at-sea and port boarding protocols that support compliance and catch validation, so outcomes from that group can affect how inspections are conducted at coastal ports.

ICCAT Circular #00324/2026, dated Madrid, 19 January 2026, lays out the SC-STATS schedule and logistics. The circular states: "SUBJECT: INTERSESSIONAL MEETING OF THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON STATISTICS (SC‑STATS) – TENTATIVE AGENDA (online, 24-25 February 2026)." It also specifies meeting hours: "The meeting will be held online on 24‑25 February 2026. The meeting hours will be from 10:00 to 17:30 (Madrid time, CET), with two breaks of 60 and 30 minutes at 12:00 and 15:00, respectively." Pedro Lino of Instituto Português do Mar e da Atmosfera (IPMA) is named as convener; his address is Avenida 5 de Outubro s/n, 8700-005 Olhão, Portugal. The ICCAT Secretariat contact for the meeting is Carlos Mayor at C/ Corazón de María 8, 28002 Madrid, Spain, Tel: +34 91 416 5600.

The circular also notes language support for participants: "Following the recommendations from the SCRS and the decision of the Commission in 2025, language interpretation will be provided during the meeting. Participants are encouraged to take advantage of" with the excerpt cutting off at that point. The SC-STATS audience is spelled out to include Head Delegates, Head Scientists, Cooperating Parties or Fishing Entities and Observers. Several officers are named in the circular excerpt: M.D. King; SCRS Chair C. Brown; STACFAD Chair L. Marot; SCRS Vice Chair L.G. Cardoso; and STACFAD Vice Chair B. Chavarría.

Procedural context matters for participants. The PWG reminded attendees that "any scientific papers to be presented for consideration at the ICCAT meetings should be presented at least two weeks before the start of the meeting," a timetable that helps planning for submissions to SC-STATS or other intersessional groups. Tagging coordination, data protection and access rules, and capacity building for developing coastal States were on the Commission agenda in late 2025 and are the through-lines linking the early-February working groups and the late-February statistics meeting.

Verify the live calendar and request the SC-STATS attachment named in Circular #00324/2026 for the tentative agenda and participant instructions. Expect follow-up on tagging data standards, port inspection guidance and statistical inputs that feed next season’s assessments and management advice.