Looking beyond the can - the importance of tuna fisheries

Part 2: The Indian Ocean

The Indian Ocean Tuna Commission manages the second most lucrative tuna fishery in the world. More than half of the tuna catches in the Indian Ocean come from small-scale fisheries, which are often characterised by a lack of data and information. Overall, the Indian Ocean faces many complex and unique challenges.

In this episode, we talk to four experts from the region who have been actively engaged in shaping the Indian Ocean tuna fisheries.

Guests:

Adam Ziyad – Chair of the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission

Dr Paul de Bruyn – Executive Secretary of the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission

Umair Shahid – Indian Ocean Tuna manager for WWF

Doreen Simiyu – Coordinator of the Indian Ocean Tuna Forum (SWIOTUNA)

Hosts: Bianca Haas & Jennifer Macey

Sound design and editing: Emily Perkins

Communication: Sunnefa Yeatman

For comments & feedback please contact: [email protected]

Find out more:

ANCORS Ocean Equity page https://oceanequityresearch.org/

ANCORS at the University of Wollongong https://www.uow.edu.au/ancors/

Indian Ocean Tuna Commission Website https://iotc.org/

WWF Website https://www.wwf-swio.org/

SWIOTUNA Website https://www.swiotuuna.org/

Blog on the 29th IOTC meeting: https://oceanequityresearch.org/fisheries-governance-publications/insights-into-the-29th-annual-meeting-of-the-indian-ocean-tuna-commission/

Research on the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission by ANCORS researchers:

Rambourg, C., Haas, B., & Colléter, M. (2025). The quiet voices of French territories in tuna fisheries management. Environmental Development, 55, 101162. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envdev.2025.101162

Haas, B., Goodman, C., Sinan, H., Davis, R. (2023). Fact or fiction? Unpacking the terminologies used in fisheries allocation discussions. Marine Policy, 152, 105630. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2023.105630

Davis, R., Hanich, Q., Haas, B., Cisneros-Montemayor, A., Azmi, K., Seto, K.L., et al. (2022). Who Gets the Catch? How Conventional Catch Attribution Frameworks Undermine Equity in Transboundary Fisheries. Frontiers in Marine Science. 9. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2022.831868