World Tuna Day

This step highlights the importance of managing protection to ensure that we have systems in place to prevent the collapse of tuna populations. Many countries heavily rely on tuna resources for food security, economic development, employment, government revenue, livelihoods, culture, and recreation.

Over 7 million metric tons of tuna and tuna-like species are caught annually. These migratory tuna species represent 20 percent of the value of all marine catches and over 8 percent of all globally traded seafood. Given this information, we must recognize the crucial role of tuna in sustainable development of food security, economic opportunities, and people's livelihoods worldwide. Stopping overfishing is vital. However, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization notes that the market demand for tuna remains high and that there is still significant overcapacity in tuna fishing fleets.

Addressing the decline of tuna populations due to overfishing in the world's oceans emphasizes the crucial importance of effective implementation of the international legal framework, as reflected in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), widely known as UNCLOS, strengthened by the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries, the United Nations Fish Stocks Agreement, recommendations of its assessment conferences, annual resolutions of the General Assembly on sustainable fisheries, and other efforts by the international community at the global, regional, and national levels.

Currently, over 96 countries are involved in the protection and management of tuna, with an expenditure of nearly $10 billion. Some relevant FAO programs have started to yield positive results in reducing overfishing.

Let's be optimistic about the future of tuna.

Source: UN