Global Mahi

With seven global mahi FIPs currently in place across geographies with the highest production and market value, efforts are well underway to address some of the key sustainability issues related to improving mahi stock health and abundance, advancing fishery management strategies, and developing governance systems to allow for adequate long-term policies to support the biological and socioeconomic longevity of the fishery.

However, one critical issue that remains a significant challenge for all global mahi fisheries is the bycatch of non-target and endangered, threatened, and protected (ETP) species. Given that this issue is a common theme across all mahi fisheries and an issue that mahi FIPs are being challenged to address, the SR’s work is moving toward effecting change by supporting the development of fit-for-purpose solutions and sourcing commitments that will reduce and mitigate bycatch in global mahi fisheries.

This global approach of prioritizing the common issue of bycatch across all mahi fisheries will enable broader impact through targeted support for research trials and other scientific studies needed to meet the sustainability goals of mahi fisheries worldwide, while also aiding FIPs in advancing their bycatch-reduction goals.

The SR will also continue to engage with national governments, research institutes, industry, and other partners to support projects advancing the science and research needs for mahi and to ensure inclusive management and governance systems are in place.

As of 2025-2026, SR participants will focus on the following strategic priorities:

Lack of harvest control rules and harvest strategies: Harvest control rules are a set of fisheries management measures designed to keep fish stock biomass within sustainable levels. These rules define how catch quotas or fishing effort (harvest strategies) should be adjusted in response to changes in stock status. 

There has been some progress in the Eastern Pacific Ocean region toward establishing harvest control rules and strategies, including recent stock assessments in Ecuador and Peru, a reduction in uncertainties regarding stock structure (through genomic and tagging studies), and the establishment of reference points and quotas in Peru. However, regionally, there is no overall coordination of management or harvest. Our approach is to 

1. Request that US delegates to the IATTC support the Ecuador-Peru binational scientific agenda promoted by COREMAHI (the regional association of mahi producers and processors) to reduce uncertainties on stock structure status and promote management based on science.
2. Identify the best strategy for fisheries management, taking into account recent tagging and genomic studies that have reduced uncertainties about stock structure.
3. Support FIPs in the region in promoting the development of HCRs and reference points for their fisheries. 

Bycatch: The primary species that the mahi fishery interacts with are sharks and sea turtles. Overall, there is a lack of data (observers, standard data collection programs, and electronic monitoring) on the interaction with endangered, threatened, or protected (ETP) species, making it challenging to develop appropriate mitigation techniques. Currently, most bycatch monitoring and mitigation solutions available in the market are high-tech solutions that are expensive and not widely distributed, making them infeasible for widespread adoption by fishers in the main producing countries. Collaboration with industry and scientists on the use of technology, best practices, and traditional data collection methods is needed.

Our approach is to document bycatch and ETP species interactions, implement best practices for handling and release techniques, and trial specific “fit-for-purpose” mitigation measures that can be widely adopted globally to reduce bycatch in the mahi fishery. The SR will support ongoing participatory monitoring programs through an incentive program that will encourage the adoption of responsible practices among surface longline fishery crews, promoting data collection, safe handling, and release methods, and peer-to-peer exchanges with mahi fishers from other EPO countries, with the potential to eventually scale to the Western Central Pacific and globally. We will also support the development of strategies to mitigate the mahi-mahi fishery’s interaction with ETP species.

SR Participation Requirements

• Any company interested in participating in the Global Mahi SR should contact the Global Mahi Supply Chain Roundtable lead.
• Participants must review the current SR workplan and budget, and sign a participation agreement annually.
• Each company is expected to make an annual contribution to participate in the Global Mahi SR. The contribution will be based on the annual budget for the activities to be conducted as part of the current SR workplan.
• Participants are encouraged to attend regular meetings (at least three virtual and one in-person).
• Participants are required to engage and collaborate with SFP and other technical experts, as requested and needed.