Notes

The Chair opened the meeting and explained about the origins of the meeting, noting that over a year ago, the International Whaling Commission (IWC) Secretariat contacted the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) Secretariat to discuss the issue of cetacean bycatch in the region and possible strategies for bycatch mitigation in Indian Ocean fisheries. The IWC’s Bycatch Mitigation Initiative (BMI) held a workshop in 2019 dedicated to cetacean bycatch within the Indian Ocean region (IWC, 2020) which brought together stakeholders from across the Indian Ocean region as well as experts on bycatch. Representatives from the IOTC Working Party on Ecosystems and Bycatch as well as IOTC member countries participated in the 2019 workshop. This current meeting is a continuation of these discussions to identify collaborative work areas between the two organisations, their member countries and experts working within the region.