Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna (CCSBT) participants met in Canberra from 15 to 18 October. Commission executive secretary Brian Macdonald said South Africa indicated it would join the commission, while signatories agreed to give Indonesia "cooperative non-member status." This was on top of the confirmation that Taiwan was admitted as a fully fledged member on 30 August.
"With Indonesia and South Africa engaged that means 98 per cent of the global catch of SBT is done by nations who have attained either member of cooperating non member status," Mr Macdonald said.
The commission was founded in 1984 by the major SBT fishing nations of Japan, Australia and New Zealand, who have agreed-upon quotas that each nation voluntarily complies with. While Indonesia was not ready to become a full CCSBT member for a number of reasons, Mr Macdonald said progress was being made on a number of fronts.
Participants agreed to review the existing monitoring programme of the Indonesian catch, currently overseen by the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission, Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) and the equivalent Indonesian research body.
Mr Macdonald said Indonesia played a very important role in the global fishery as much of its activity took place in the oceans off Java where the tuna are believed to spawn. In addition, Indonesia is believed to catch between 10 and 12 per cent of the total catch with estimates of between 1,500 and 2,000 tonnes annually.
Mr Macdonald said Australia, New Zealand and Japan agreed to stick with their current voluntary catch limits.