Is Power Listening to Science? The Case of Iccat and the Eastern Bluefin Tuna (2004-2014)

Abstract

During the international tuna fishery management crisis in 2009, an epistemic community emerged at the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) that employed collective efforts to deal with shared problems and improved the effectiveness of agreements, in terms of the recovery of Eastern Blue Fin Tuna (EBFT) stocks. This event resulted in the question: when and why does power listen to science? Through a combination of elite interviews and process tracing, this investigation analyzed the roles and influences of science and epistemic communities in the ICCAT EBFT political decisions, from 2004 to 2014. We have concluded that the EBFT case illustrates a situation where effective agreements to handle a fishery crisis in an uncertain environment were enhanced, when a transnational network of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), helped to pressure the decision-makers.

Assessment of Regional Fisheries Management Organizations Efforts toward the Precautionary Approach and Science-Based Stock Management and Compliance Measures

“…Several positive developments since its first PR in 2008 have been noted within the Second Performance review report [65], as well as some negative aspects that still needed to be addressed by the Commission. Through the years 2007-2017, the ICCAT has undergone many changes and accomplishments towards the improvement of conservation, management, compliance, and enforcement [66].…”

“…Being among the oldest RFMOs to date, along with the necessity to update the mandate within its Convention to address contemporary issues in fisheries and sustainability, the ICCAT has engaged in vigorous modernization since 2009. Strengthening its performance is challenging due to its relatively large number of Contracting Parties, disagreements over scientific assessments, and continued impediments over the proper management of overexploited key tuna stocks [66].…”

“…In terms of science-based management, it was observed that under the Brazilian mandate as chair of the Commission during the past decade, there was a substantial change in the image of the ICCAT from an institution that did not venerate science into its committed role to applying advice and recommendations from the scientific community even towards the reduction of total admissible catches of valuable stocks such as the Eastern Bluefin tuna [66].…”