Concerns about more tuna vessels entering Pacific waters are rising among Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission Leaders. The tuna fishing industry in the region is failing to meet its target to reduce catches.
In the lead up to a crucial WCPFC meeting in Cairns, Australia in early December, member countries will meet to negotiate and debate on proposals to add further limitations to the catch of bigeye tuna, the WCPFC has said it will have difficult decisions to make that will be in the interests of the sustainability of the region’s resources.
WCPFC Executive Director, Glenn Hurry said: “We’ve got too many boats in this purse seine fishery at the moment, and there is another 45 under construction in Asian shipyards at the moment and some of those will enter our fishery and we need some strong regulations in place before they do get in.â€
He explained that there are 297 tuna purse seine vessels and around 3000 longline vessels currently fishing in the Pacific Ocean, and there needs to be an agreement on how the region can sustain tuna stocks. He added that the Commission will welcome Indonesia as a member country this year.
