Region 7: Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (ABNJ)

The tropical and subtropical Atlantic ecosystem spans rich productive coastal waters with productive upwelling areas to vast oligotrophic oceanic areas supporting one of the largest fishing grounds for tuna fisheries in the world. Long-distance fleets of purse-seine and surface longline and to lesser extent bait boat fisheries from the EU and other nations target tropical tuna species inside EEZ of African countries but also in areas beyond national jurisdiction (the high seas). While the EU tropical tuna purse seine fleet is well monitored, a number of PETS remain at risk of bycatch in this fishery, specifically sharks and rays.

The inclusion of this region offers an opportunity to evaluate the vulnerability status of PETS and test the effectiveness of mitigation measures already in place in this fishery with new complementary ones in MarineBeacon to further mitigate and avoid the capture of PET sharks and rays, together with the opportunity to co-develop with relevant stakeholders an integrated cross-taxa and gear bycatch management decision support tool for decision-makers widely applicable to other fisheries and areas.