Cook’s Northern Fishery Dominates Catch Dataff

Preliminary 2006 catch data for the Cook Islands tuna longline industry shows the country’s northern islands fishery continues to dominate, the Cook Islands Herald reported.

Again the bulk of the catch was in the north. The season there peaked twice, in May with 239,411 kg of tuna caught and again in July with 320,501 kg of tuna caught, the Cook Islands Herald said.

In the southern islands fishery the season peaked twice, firstly in May with 39,968 kg caught and again in August with 44,951 kg caught.

The preliminary figures were obtained in Rarotonga from the Marine Resources Ministry. The ministry’s final figures – including November and December – are expected out by early April.

The Cook Islands Herald said comparison with previous calendar years is not possible at this stage.

While different numbers of vessels are engaged each year, there has been a noticeable upward trend in the northern catch, the newspaper said. This is helping to raise the overall catch total.