Subject: Tuna Symposium

From: [email-masked] (Jason Rice)
Date: 30 Apr 1996 14:38:59 GMT

ICCAT 25TH ANNIVERSARY

 TUNA SYMPOSIUM

 June 10 - 18, 1996
 Ponta Delgada
 Sao Miguel Island
 Azores, Portugal

International Commission 
for the 
Conservation of Atlantic Tunas

The International Convention for the Conservation of Atlantic 
Tunas (ICCAT) was signed in 1966 to ensure the conservation 
and rational management of Atlantic tunas. At the time of its 
creation, total tuna catches in the Atlantic were about half the 
present level and most of the stocks were then still under-
exploited. Since that time, a spectacular development in the 
Atlantic tuna fisheries has been observed in most areas and for 
most tuna stocks: various Atlantic tuna stocks are now 
approaching their maximum biological productivity, and some 
stocks are already heavily over-exploited. This impressive 
development of the tuna fisheries has been closely monitored 
and constantly assessed by ICCAT's Standing Committee on 
Research and Statistics (SCRS).

The Symposium will represent the first ICCAT forum with the 
objective of developing an intensive and in-depth analysis of 
the validity and limits of the various data, models and 
hypotheses used by the SCRS during its 25 years of activities. 
The conclusions and recommendations drawn from this 
Symposium will obviously be of major benefit to the efficiency 
of research conducted on Atlantic tunas and of ICCAT 
management measures. The results will also be of considerable 
potential interest for tuna research and management in other 
oceans, as most of the biological and migratory features 
characteristic of tunas are very similar for each species, 
independent of ocean, as are the research methodologies used.

All the scientific problems related to research and rational 
management of Atlantic tunas and tuna-like species will be 
reviewed during the Symposium, as indicated in the Agenda. 
All scientists interested in tuna research are invited to 
participate in the Symposium; contribution papers and 
presentations in other forms are now being solicited.

1. Date and Place  

June 10 (Mon) - June 18 (Tue) 1996

Hotel Azores Atlantico, Ponta Delgada, Sao Miguel Island, Azores, 
Portugal, at the invitation of Regional Secretary of Agriculture and 
Fisheries of the Autonomous Regional Government of the Azores, 
Portugal.

2. Symposium procedures 

Contributions for the Symposium can be made in three different 
ways: 

(1)	Oral presentations (given during the plenary sessions)
(2)	Poster presentations (on display in the lobby) 
(3)	Audio-visual presentations (given in the evenings). 

Dr. A. Fonteneau will serve as the General Chairman of the 
Symposium. Discussions of each Agenda item will be presided by a 
Moderator and will begin with a general review prepared by the 
Moderator and selected scientists. This will be followed by oral 
presentations pertinent to the Agenda item. At the end of each item, 
a discussion session will be held to reach conclusions and to make 
recommendations for the future. 

Simultaneous interpretation (in English, French and Spanish) will 
be provided for the duration of the Symposium for discussions taking 
place in the main session, but not during informal working groups 
which may be established during the course of the Symposium. 

3. Guidelines for presentations

For the oral (contribution papers), audio-visual, and poster presenta-
tions. 

-	Registration of titles for all the presentations, including a 
brief summary of the presentation (in the attached format) and 
reference to the specific Agenda item to which the presentation 
refers: March 15, 1996. (Electronic submission via e-mail or on 
diskette in MS DOS is acceptable.)

-	Confirmation of presentations, including final modifications 
to summaries submitted previously: May 1, 1996. Also by this 
same date, those presenting posters should indicate the amount of 
space required and those with audio-visual presentations should 
specify the duration of the presentation as well as the equipment 
required. The final summaries will be translated and made 
available at the Symposium in the three official languages of the 
Commission.
   
-	Copies of contribution papers for distribution among all the 
participants are not required, unless the presenter so wishes. 
However, a hard copy, as well as computer files of text, tables and 
figures, should be provided to the Secretariat by the last day of the 
Symposium, i.e., June 18, 1996.

-	The time allotted for each oral presentation will be based on 
the number of summaries provided by the deadline of 1 May 1996. 
At the discretion of the Steering Committee, 10 to 30 minutes will 
be allotted for each paper (including any question/answer period, 
specifically concerning the paper). 

-	The Report of the ICCAT Tuna Symposium, including the 
peer-reviewed Moderators' review papers and contribution papers, 
will be published in a hard bound volume. All the papers will be 
evaluated by two outside reviewers for publication. An "Editorial 
Committee" comprising the members of the Steering Committee 
and Symposium Moderators will meet after the outside review 
process has been completed on all the papers, in order to finalize 
the editorial arrangements for the publication of the Report of the 
Symposium.

	SYMPOSIUM AGENDA

1.Opening of the Symposium

2.Procedural matters (Adoption of Agenda, meeting arrangements, 
introduction of participants, etc.)

3.Review of history of past tuna research (Moderator: P. M. 
Miyake)
	June 10 (Mon.)-morning
	
4.Stock structure and mixing (Moderator: S. Turner)
	June 10 (Mon.)-afternoon & June 11 (Tue.)-morning

5.Tunas and the environment (Moderator: A. Fonteneau)
	June 11 (Tue.)-afternoon & June 12 (Wed.)-morning
	
6.Stock assessments and projections (Moderator: V. Restrepo)
	June 12 (Wed.)-afternoon & June 13 (Thu.) all day

7.Responsible fishing (Moderator: J. L. Cort)
	June 14 (Fri.)-morning and part afternoon 

8.Social and economic factors influencing tuna fishing  (Moderator: 
R. Lent)
	June 14 (Fri.)-afternoon & June 15 (Sat.)-morning

9.Management advice (Moderators: P. Pallares and Z. Suzuki)
	June 15 (Sat.)-afternoon & June 17 (Mon.)-morning

10.General discussion
	June 17 (Mon.)-afternoon & June 18 (Tue.)-morning

11.Adoption of Report
	June 18 (Tue.)-afternoon

12.Adjournment

All inquiries should be addressed to:

		Dr. P. M. Miyake
		Symposium Secretary
		ICCAT Secretariat
		Calle Est‚banez Calder¢n, no. 3
		28020 Madrid, Spain
		Tel: (34 1) 579 3352
		Fax: (34 1) 571 5299
		E-mail: [email-masked]