The Indo-Pacific Tuna Development and Management Programme (IPTP) was set up in 1982 in Colombo, Sri Lanka, with funding from UNDP and execution by FAO. Since 1986, IPTP was funded totally by member country contributions.

The IPTP programme initially covered the Indian Ocean and an area extending over the western Pacific. In later phases, the area of competence was trimmed to cover only the Indian Ocean. While IPTP did not have a management mandate, its activities included all the remaining functions of IOTC.

Over the fifteen years of its activity, notable IPTP achievements included the constitution of a database covering tuna fisheries in the Indian Ocean, extending back to the very beginning of industrialised tuna fishing in this ocean. In the process, many countries bordering the ocean were assisted in setting up statistical sampling schemes. Many studies were conducted on the biology and fisheries of tunas, including a number of tagging experiments. Six Expert Consultations on Indian Ocean tunas and five on western Pacific tunas, as well as a number of workshops were organised. These provided advice to the parties fishing for tuna in the area on the status of stocks.

IOTC is the direct inheritor of the work conducted under IPTP.

The producer value is estimated, very roughly, at between 2 and 3 billion dollars annually. This does not take account of value-added from support industries and processing or social benefits such as employment and nutrition which are particularly important in artisanal fishery situations.

The Indian Ocean differs from the other oceans in that artisanal fisheries take as much as industrial fisheries. In coastal country catches (except for Maldives, Sri Lanka and Indonesia), neritic species predominate, while the distant water fishing nations (DWFNs) target tropical and temperate oceanic tunas and, to a lesser extent, swordfish.

Artisanal fisheries use gill nets, troll lines and pole-and-line gears to target tuna and tuna-like species. Their importance has increased significantly in recent years and artisanal craft are ranging over progressively larger areas.

Longlining started in 1952 in the western Indian Ocean and, by the mid 1970s, had spread over most of the ocean. This fishery now produces nearly 250,000 tonnes annually. Of the industrialised fishing methods, this gear produces the highest value as large fish are caught, much of which goes to the high priced sashimi market. Purse seining started in the early 1980s and now produces nearly 360,000 tonnes. Most of the catch is destined to the canned fish market at relatively low prices. Canning, however, is an important activity in a number of Indian Ocean countries including Thailand, Seychelles, Mauritius and Madagascar.