BOBP-IGO organized a Panel Discussion on "Tuna Fisheries in BOB Region: Emerging Challenges Under Changing Climate and BBNJ Regime" in collaboration with BFRI, FSI, ICAR-CMFRI, IPNLF and NARA to the occasion of World Tuna Day (02 May 2023).
About 120 participants representing IGOs, RFBs, RSOs, industry, NGOs and researchers, academia, and officials from about 15 countries attended.
Opening the event, Dr P. Krishnan, Director, BOBP-IGO, highlighted the importance of tuna fisheries, especially for the Bay of Bengal rim countries and provided an overview of the panel discussion. Dr. E. Vivekanandan presented the impact of changing climate on the distribution, abundance, migration and physiology of the Tunas. Dr. Maeve Nightingale, IUCN provided an overview of the evolution, objectives and key provisions of the BBNJ and Dr. Saravanane, MoES, GoI and Dr. Hussain Sinan, Director (Fisheries), Maldives highlighted the implications of the treaty on the fisheries, in general and tuna in particular.
The Panel called for enhanced cooperation, meeting the developing countries needs to address climate change and exploring the opportunities provided by the BBNJ agreement.
