RFMO (Regional Fisheries Management Organization)

Regional fisheries management organizations are treaty bodies that manage shared, straddling, and highly migratory stocks across the high seas and member EEZs, setting total allowable catches, allocation keys, and conservation measures. The tuna RFMOs (ICCAT, IATTC, IOTC, WCPFC, and the southern bluefin commission) plus non-tuna bodies like NEAFC, NAFO, GFCM, and SPRFMO derive their mandate from the 1995 UN Fish Stocks Agreement, which requires states to cooperate through them. Compliance rests on observer programs, VMS, and port-state controls.