By Atuna.com
The United Kingdom’s navy ship, HMS PROTECTOR, is patrolling for tuna vessels that are fishing illegally in St. Helena’s waters this week. The tiny, isolated island is a British territory located in the South Atlantic, between South America and Africa.
The St. Helena tuna fisheries yield about 500 tons of tuna each year. In 2010, its pole-and-line fisheries for yellowfin, bigeye, albacore and skipjack tuna were assessed against the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification, but failed to meet the sustainability standard. The negative outcome was mainly due to the status of the Atlantic tuna stocks and the lack of management by the regional fisheries management organization – the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT).
The waters around St. Helena are frequented by long liners and purse seiners which are fishing at the Atlantic High Seas targeting tuna. The countries EEZ have surface of about 450 sq.km.
Besides monitoring for illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, the 65-member crew aboard the HMS PROTECTOR is conducting hydrographic and environmental survey operations in the region from Oct. 4-7.
