Source: Focus Taiwan
The Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna (CCSBT) confirmed in a meeting held this week in Taipei that a new total allowable catch (TAC) for the fish will be set in 2011 for implementation in 2012, Taiwan’s Fisheries Agency said Saturday.
The new quota, expected to be lower than the current limit, will be aimed at helping the spawning stock of southern bluefin tuna to rebound to 20 percent of the original stock, the agency said.
The spawning biomass of the species remains at a very low level, at about 5 percent or less of unfished levels, the Canberra-headquartered CCSBT said on its website.
To alleviate the harvesting pressure on the fish, the global TAC for 2010 and 2011 had already been reduced to 9,449 metric tons from the previously allowed quota of 11,810 tons.
The CCSBT has six members -- Australia, Indonesia, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea and Taiwan -- and three cooperating non-members -- the Philippines, South Africa and the European Union.
Currently, Australia has the highest “effective catch limit†-- the effective catch after additional agreed upon voluntary reductions have been applied -- with 4,015 tons, followed by Japan (2,261 tons), South Korea and Taiwan (859 tons each), New Zealand (709 tons), and Indonesia (651 tons).
According to the Fisheries Agency, Australia and Japan, which own the world’s largest southern bluefin fishing fleets, will bear the brunt of a further reduction in the TAC, while Taiwan’s quota is not expected to be adjusted much.