Start of ROP-BFT program training

Since 2010, the COFREPECHE-MRAG consortium has been managing the ICCAT Regional Observer Program for Bluefin Tuna in the Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean (ROP-BFT). In this context, COFREPECHE recruits and trains observers, and deploys them on ICCAT-registered vessels, fattening farms and traps, under the supervision of the Secretariat.

COFREPECHE’s ROP-BFT team completed its first training session in Naples on Friday, marking an important milestone in the organization of the campaign. The team is now turning its attention to the other training sessions to come, one of which began on May 12 in Tunisia
The training session took place in the presence of Captain Paolo Pignalosa, one of the program’s first graduates, and now Director of Oceanis SRL, where the Naples training sessions take place.

The event underscored the program’s ongoing commitment to monitoring fishing operations, particularly during the bluefin tuna season from  May 26 to July 1st. Such monitoring has made a major contribution to the sustainable management and recovery of the bluefin tuna stock in the region.