Ecuador Records Highest 2004 Tuna Catch In EPOff

According to statistics provided by the Ecuador Observers’ Program (PROBECUADOR) and published in the Ecuador Fishing report of March, Ecuador registered a catch of 149,386 tons last year and therefore obtained the position as leading tuna fishing nation in the EPO Eastern Pacific Ocean, outranking its main competitor, the Mexican fleet, which obtained a catch of 125,985 tons. For two consecutive years, Mexico had held the first position.

The president of the National Chamber of Fishery, Mr. Cesar Rohon, attributes the drop of Mexican tuna fishery to an over-exploitation of yellowfin catches. Although the species still predominates in the EPO, with 272,515 tons, this figure represents almost half of what was fished between 2001 and 2003. The Mexican fleet almost exclusively targets yellowfin tuna, while the Ecuadorian fleet with many smaller boats pre-dominantly target skipjack tuna.

Whereas for Ecuador, Mr. Rohon pointed out that the evolution of catches during the first trimester of 2005 has also been favorable for the fleet and the Ecuadorian industry.

According to Mr. Rohon, “We had a good start this year and will therefore have no with the August tuna fishing ban. We are completing the inventory of frozen fish to avoid having a gap like last year.” The last ban came along with cold waters, which drove away the local tuna, normally swimming in tropical waters.

Gabriela Cruz, president of the Federation of Ecuadorian Fishery Cooperatives (FENACOPEC), however, warned that although “catches have been good until March, they have dropped during this last month. This could be due to weather conditions affecting the catches”.  Currently tuna fishermen are reporting mainly catches of small sized skipjack.