The role of Brazil in the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT)

Leandra Regina Gonçalves

doi:10.1590/0034-7329201900201

Abstract

Although Brazil has been an active voice in ICCAT in the past ten years, its leadership has been declining. This paper examines what might explain the variation of international influence Brazil has had in addressing the issues at ICCAT and argues that if Brazil wants to preserve its leadership, it must demonstrate commitment to its own waters while strengthening governmental institutions.

Highlights

The focus of this paper is to review the history of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) and to understand and discuss Brazil’s role in this international agreement over the past 10 years
Despite ongoing concerns over the sustainability of particular stocks under the ICCAT’s responsibility, it is clear that the Commission has been engaged in a process of modernization to strengthen its performance for some years and this has been yielding results, mainly after 2009
Besides improvement of the ICCAT, the institutional management of the fisheries sector in Brazil has been plagued by political instability

Summary

Introduction

The focus of this paper is to review the history of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) and to understand and discuss Brazil’s role in this international agreement over the past 10 years. ICCAT is responsible for the management of tunas and tuna-like species in the Atlantic Ocean and adjacent seas, and is one of the first regional fisheries management organizations. The country was one of its founding nations (International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas 1966). Brazil is a biodiversity hotspot that is relevant nationally and globally (Scarano et al 2012), and even more so because the country aspires to deliver on ambitious global commitments to various multilateral environmental agreements that have biodiversity conservation as a Gonçalves key component (Pires et al 2018). Brazil does not have a well-developed fishery industry, it has been trying to sustain itself in this sector (Abdallah 1999; Abdallah and Sumaila 2007)

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Conclusion