The scientific research work conducted by the IATTC staff is implemented through the IATTC Strategic Science Plan (SSP) which establishes research goals, activities, and priorities for the 2019-2023 period.

Under the SSP, the staff’s research activities are no longer structured in accordance with the Commission’s four research programs, as in previous years. Instead, they are classified into the SSP’s seven main areas of research, called Themes. In addition to better accommodating a strategic planning approach, this new structure is intended to foster stronger collaboration among the different Programs (recommendation 17 of the 2016 IATTC Performance Review), with researchers from different Programs contributing to activities under a common Theme.

The seven Themes, the strategic pillars of the SSP, are the following:

1. Data collection for scientific support of management
2. Life history studies for scientific support of management
3. Sustainable fisheries
4. Ecological impacts of fishing: assessment and mitigation
5. Interactions among the environment, ecosystem, and fisheries
6. Knowledge transfer and capacity building
7. Scientific excellence

Each Theme is divided into strategic Goals, and the principal tasks that will be carried out to achieve a particular goal within the SSP’s five-year window are called Targets. The specific activities that the staff will carry out in order to fulfil those tasks are called Projects.
You can use our Project Search Tool to browse over different IATTC Projects by Theme, Goal and Target.