According to the newly released tuna assessment from SPC, the 2010 catch for bigeye, skipjack south Pacific albacore and yellowfin, is estimated at 2,421,113 tonnes, the second highest annual catch on record.
This represents 83 percent of the total Pacific Ocean catch, and 60 percent of the global tuna catch.
The report recommends a 32 percent reduction in annual catch to ensure long-term sustainability.
10 January 2011: The Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) has released its 2010 tuna assessment, tiled “The western and central Pacific tuna fishery: 2010 overview and status of stocks.” The assessment concludes that overfishing of bigeye tuna continues in the western and central Pacific, and recommends a 32 percent reduction in annual catch, to ensure long-term sustainability.
According to SPC, the 2010 catch for bigeye, skipjack south Pacific albacore and yellowfin is estimated at 2,421,113 tonnes, the second highest annual catch on record. This represents 83 percent of the total Pacific Ocean catch, and 60 percent of the global tuna catch.
SPC says bigeye represents 5 percent of the fishery’s total tuna catch. It is mostly taken in equatorial areas, both by purse-seine and longline. SPC points out that purse-seine fisheries and domestic surface fisheries of the Philippines and Indonesia take large numbers of small bigeye.
The assessment states that yellowfin, skipjack and south Pacific albacore tuna stocks are being fished at a moderate level and stocks are reasonably healthy. It recommends that the yellowfin catch in the western equatorial Pacific be limited to current levels, and that limits on skipjack be considered. [SPC Press Release] [Publication: The western and central Pacific tuna fishery: 2010 overview and status of stocks]