The Regional Coordination Group for Large Pelagics (RCG LP) has officially concluded its 2026 annual Technical Meeting, held in Heraklion, Crete (Greece) and online, establishing a brand-new framework for the monitoring of tuna, swordfish, and shark species across EU oceanic fleets. The three-day hybrid forum gathered around 35 prominent marine scientists and National Correspondents alongside dedicated representatives from the European Commission (DG MARE), ICCAT, and IOTC. The primary objective was to align practical dockside and at-sea data collection with the shifting regulatory demands of international end-users.
Five distinct technical pillars:
- Customizing the 2028–2030 Regional Plan (RWP): The group advanced work on Table 2.1, explicitly analyzing how to embed biological sampling thresholds mandated by global Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (RFMOs). The focus was placed on coordinating mandatory data coverage to ensure that Member State exemptions and specific local fisheries are fully respected without creating regulatory gaps.
- Targeted Compliance & Historical Data Flagging: In direct consultation with ICCAT and IOTC data managers, experts evaluated official transmission dashboards to fix outstanding data gaps before the autumn plenaries. To assist national institutes, the group recommended a standardized internal system to permanently tag historical “irrecoverable” data within databases, preventing missing data from continuously triggering automatic compliance penalties.
- Overcoming Boarding Constraints with EMS and Edge AI: Addressing the physical impossibility of placing human observers on smaller longline vessels targeting species like Albacore, participants debated joint funding strategies for Electronic Monitoring Systems (EMS). Technical updates revealed that Edge AI image-processing models—which process catch data directly on vessel hardware during long trips—are expected to be fully operational within two years. The group also prepared for new data inflows from upcoming Small-Scale and Recreational Fisheries tracking apps.
- Revitalizing the Transoceanic Longline Subgroup: In a major governance decision, the group resolved to reactivate the “Longlines outside the Mediterranean” Intersessional Subgroup (ISSG) under a new chair proposal. Experts rejected a potential merger with the tropical tuna group to explicitly safeguard specialized high-seas fleet protocols and maintain a dedicated focus on pelagic sharks and swordfish.
- Standardizing Genetics Frameworks and Bycatch Toolkits: The meeting evaluated the creation of a new cross-cutting ISSG on Genetics, targeting metadata standardization for stock identification and centralized biobanking strategies. Additionally, a practical calibration session was held for the ICCAT Bycatch Estimation Tool, proving its value as a secure software option that lets countries run standardized data expansions locally without exposing proprietary or sensitive raw observer data.
The meeting wrapped up with a clear distribution of drafting responsibilities across the technical subgroups to finalize the core text blocks of the regional work plans. The complete breakdown of discussions, formal recommendations, and agreed-upon decisions will be made available in the official 2026 RCG Large Pelagics Report, to be published on the RCG website shortly.
