Title: Costa Rica fisheries data reporting to RFMOs: Challenges and improvements.

Within the conservation and management measures adopted by the Tuna Regional Fisheries Management Organizations, requests for fisheries data are constantly made to members and cooperating non-members. The Costa Rican fisheries authority has faced challenges and limitations in providing adequate attention to these data requests, which has led to some compliance issues within RFMOs. The research aimed to improve the capacity of the Costa Rican fishery's authority (INCOPESCA) to implement these measures. For this purpose, a review and analysis of the active conservation and management measures available on the IATTC website were carried out. In addition, the perceptions and knowledge of key actors involved in the data reporting process were collected through questionnaires. It was found that 16 out of 62 measures include fisheries data requests in which at least one of the Costa Rican fisheries is involved. The challenges most mentioned by INCOPESCA officials were the lack of human resources and knowledge about the internal dynamics and operational functioning of RFMOs. A five-step procedure is proposed as the most effective way to improve actions related to data reporting. Identifying the conservation and management measures resulted in a process that allows Costa Rica to compile synthesised and easily accessible information, including compliance deadlines and the specific fisheries involved in each measure.