Although worldwide stocks of bigeye and yellowfin tuna are considered to be under growing pressure, this year’s newly introduced conservation and management measures for the international longline fleet seems to be limited and of a mixed character. Only the new measures taken in the Western Pacific might have a notable impact on longline catches of both stocks.
In the Western Pacific, the countries joined in the Parties to the Nauru Agreement (PNA) have introduced in their waters new measures concerning longliners to generate more revenue for the islands while cutting catch levels.After it already was introduced for purse seine fisheries last year, a ‘Vessel Day Scheme’ for longline fishing vessels became effective from this month on. The PNA countries will no longer sell licenses for individual longline vessels. Instead, the system consists of selling a limited number of days to fishing companies based on size and sophistication of their vessels. The measure, which is supposed to be applied on about a 1000 vessels in the region, is part of a package that is aimed to reduce bigeye catch in the area with 30 percent and set up an own PNA longline fleet and tuna industry.
If effective, the measures could be of substantial impact on supply of bigeye from the area.
The VDS scheme is replacing the existing system of catch limits for longliners based on the countries they are flagged under. This system was introduced 5 years ago in order to bring some regulation in the Pacific tuna fisheries. But according to the PNA countries, the mayor distant water fishing nations, like the US, failed systematically in their obligations to provide the agreed catch data of bigeye. The lacking of an effective verification of longline bigeye catch made the flag based bigeye catch limit ‘an ineffective sham’ according to one PNA spokesman. The eight PNA island nations control waters where the bulk of the Pacific’s USD 3 billion annual tuna haul is caught.
In comparison, new measures of the Western Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) in the same area that affect longline fishery are of a more limited and indirect nature. WCPFC introduced conservation measures for the protection of sea turtles by the use of circle hooks. The measure is aimed to avoid bycatch and death of turtles. The measure might influence the tuna catch: an Australian study published several years ago, suggested that the use of circle hooks can result in a higher catch rate of the target species.
The WCPFC also introduced measures against finning of sharks based on the system already applied in the Atlantic Ocean. No more than 5 percent ratio of the total weight of caught shark on board can be fins, a measure that encourages the release of live sharks caught incidentally by longliners and can have its side effects on the tuna catch.
In the Eastern Pacific the Inter American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC) ordered that longliners fishing on bigeye of China, Japan, Korea and Chinese Taipei must ensure that their total catch in the period of 2011 to 2013 won’t exceed the limits of 2.507 tons for China, 32.372 tons for Japan, 11.947 tons for Korea and 7.555 tons for Chinese Taipei. All other governments of the IATTC have to ensure that their longliners won’t catch in 2011-2013 more than 500 tons or their respective catch of bigeye in 2001. The measures are expected to reduce supply of bigeye in the region.
For longline fishing on bigeye in the Atlantic Ocean under the convention of ICCAT the Total Allowable Catch for 2011 will be 85.000 tons. The European Union, Japan and Chinese Taipei are among the countries with the highest catch limits (respectively 22,667 tons, 23,611 tons and 15,583 tons). Underage or excessive catch will be added or deducted from the annual catches in 2012 and 2013.
A new development is seen in the Indian Ocean in front of the Somali coast, a tuna rich area where European navy vessels are trying to protect European fishing vessels against Somali piracy in a military operation known as Atalanta. The Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) decided a closure of longliners for 2011 and 2012 from February 1st until March 1st in the box which basically is located in the same area east of the Somali coast (0 - 10 North and 40 – 60 West). The same area will be closed for purse seiners from November 1st until December 1st. According to the IOTC, vessels that do not comply with the monitoring system are not allowed to fish in the area. Landing, transhipments and commercial transaction of all species and their products that are indentified as coming from fishing activities that contravene the IOTC measure are prohibited.
Along the Somali coast repeatedly illegal fishing was reported in the past. Several years ago the United Nations Environment Program estimated a yearly USD 300 million loss for the Somali economy due this practice. More recently, illegal fishing in Somali waters is thought to be limited, due to the high risks of piracy.
The effect of the IOTC measure now depends on the compliance of the rules. So far, the Atalanta fleet has no mandate for control. Neither is VMF tracking data of the tuna vessels reported to the IOTC by national European authorities.
Although IOTC already in 2009 stated that the catch should not exceed MSY level of respectively 300,000 tons for yellowfin and 110,000 tons for bigeye, a TAC and quota system are still not implemented. Such measures will not be decided on until the IOTC plenary session next year.
