Recognizing that a Management Strategy Evaluation (MSE) process needs to be widely implemented in the tRFMOs in the line with implementing a precautionary approach for tuna fisheries management, the participants to the Kobe III meeting (La Jolla, California, USA, July 12-14, 2011) recommended that a Joint MSE Technical Working Group be created. It was decided that he terms of reference for the joint working group should include:

a) Review the literature and experiences of tRFMOs in relation to MSE in order to investigate the feasibility of its application to different tunas;

b) Provide guidance for developing MSE and operational models (OM) for tuna biology/ecology/fisheries in relation to the main sources of uncertainty arising from tuna assessments; and

c) To the extent possible, provide and develop the modeling framework to apply the OM/MSE to tuna assessments by tRFMOs.

It was stressed at that time, that appropriate attention be given to building the capacity of tRFMO participants in the use of the MSE approach. This is of particular importance and initiatives are being undertaken to improve capacity in several of the RFMO regions. Also, it was stressed that necessary management action should not be delayed while MSE systems are developed.

Although the Group was initially instructed to meet electronically, following discussions of the Kobe Steering Committee it was agreed that an MSE workshop be held in late 2016. After consultation with the tRFMOs Executive Secretaries/Directors, an initial list of potentially interested experts was provided by each tRFMOs. These experts form the core of the Kobe MSE working group. The 1st joint t-RFMO MSE Working Group meeting was held at the ICCAT Secretariat offices (Madrid, Spain) from November 1-3, 2016, and the report of that first meeting can be downloaded here.

The second meeting was held June 13th-15th at the University of Washington in Seattle (USA). The report of this meeting can be downloaded here. A glossary of termscommonly used in MSE was compiled by the working group to improve consistency and clarity of communication in tRFMO MSE processes. This glossary is available for use by others with appropriate acknowledgement.

Theme Leaders and alternates were appointed and continue to serve as liaisons for the dedicated themes. They are; 

Dialogue Graham Pilling,Campbell Davies. Conditioning of Operating Models Mark Maunder, Toshihide Kitakado. Computational Aspects Anders Nielsen, Vaughan Pratt. Albacore Case Study Laurence Kell, Iago Mosqueira. DisseminationCarolina Minte-Vera. Meta-rules Ann Peece,David Die.

Theme leaders performed reviews of the individual theme sessions in advance of the workshop, communicating via the tRFMO-MSE forum or github. These reviews guided discussions at the meeting and formed the basis for future work plans. Updates on progress will be made to keep all interested parties informed and links to ongoing work will be made via the wiki.

As MSE is by definition and inclusive and transparent process, anyone wishing to be involved in the interssesional discussions are encouraged to contact the theme leaders or contribute to the forum discussions.