Division Timeliness of data submission to IOTCF1

It is essential that all fishery data be available to the IOTC Secretariat in due time to allow monitoring of stocks and analysis of the data. Thus it is recommended that the following rules be applied as standard obligations:

Surface fleets and other fleets operating in coastal zones (including supply vessels) must provide their fishery data at the earliest possible date but no later than 30 June each year (previous year's data).

Longline fleets operating on the high seas must provide the provisional fishery data at the earliest date, but no later than 30 June (previous year's data). They must provide the final estimate of their fishery data before 30 December each year (previous year's data).

The time limits presently allowed for submitting statistics could be reduced in the future as communication and data processing technologies become ever more rapid, which should reduce the present data processing delays.