By Atuna
Recent data released by the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC) have once again confirmed fishermen reports of very low skipjack catches in the Eastern Pacific Ocean (EPO). Total catches of the species were down 32% by the end of May, from 108.271 MT in 2009 to 74.178 MT this year.
January and May were the months with the lowest levels in 2010. Skipjack catches were down 56% - from 20.155 MT in 2009 to 8.959 MT - during the first month of the year and 43% last May – from 16.096 in 2009 to 9.285 MT.
The downtrend has deeply affected skipjack prices globally, since several canneries in South America are now being supplied by carriers from the Western Pacific Ocean.
Even though yellowfin catches are maintaining similar levels to those of 2009’s – 109.478 MT from January to May of 2010 – prices have gone up along with the rising skipjack levels.
