In recent years, Electronic Monitoring Systems (EMS) have been progressively tested and implemented in tuna fisheries as a complementary tool in scientific observer programs. All tuna Regional Fisheries Management organizations (t-RFMOs) are now developing minimum standards that can be used as guidelines to fulfil specific fisheries management measures in each area of competence including Regional Observer Scheme (ROS) requirements. The first EM standards for Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) were discussed in WGEMS meetings and were adopted in 2023 based on previous RFMOs and countries experiences. Each tuna fishery willing to use EMS including purse seiners in the Indian Ocean is now invited to follow the minimum standards for data collection that were proposed in Resolution 23/08. However, with the diversity of fisheries, vessel configurations, programs advancement and the limits of the method itself, EM minimum standards monitoring goals (which are initially based on ROS onboard observation programs) may be challenging to fulfil.
The aim of the present document is to review the French purse seine EMS program and to discuss the feasibility and challenges to comply with the minimum standards for scientific data collection on tropical purse seine fleets of the Indian Ocean. This document reports on the shared experience of scientists, fleet managers, EM analysts and EM providers with the current EM installation covering the French and associated tropical tuna purse seine fleet. Here, we review each ROS scientific field against the ability of the vessel EM configuration to collect the information. This includes data collection on fishing activity, discards and handling and release of ETP species that is currently undertaken routinely and data collection on retained catches and FAD activities that is currently in test. Lessons learned from past experience are used to assess data collection possibilities against recently adopted IOTC EMS minimum standards.