SA leads drive for responsible tuna fishing

Conservation measure applauded

A CONSERVATION measure introduced and promoted by South Africa at a recent meeting of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) has laid the groundwork for improved management of bigeye and other species of tropical tunas.

Bigeye tuna, overfished in the Atlantic Ocean for years, is an important catch for South Africa’s tuna fishing industry, which has massive potential to grow and provide jobs and economic opportunities.

In a joint statement the SA Tuna Association, the SA Tuna Longline Association and the Department Of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries said that until last month the management regime put in place by the ICCAT was considered to be ineffective and bigeye tuna was known to be heavily overfished.

Recent catch limits set by the ICCAT for bigeye tuna were exceeded by more than 20%, they said.

The new adoptions by the ICCAT meeting held in Spain late last month represent improvements to reduce the catch of juvenile bigeye and other tropical tunas, with the goal of establishing sustainable tuna fisheries in the Atlantic Ocean, the associations said.

South Africa’s role in leading negotiations and lobbying for a new management regime aligned with the advice of the ICCAT’s scientific body, was applauded during the meeting.

Among the new management measures is a reduction in catch limit for bigeye tuna from 78000 tons per year to 62 500 tons in 2020, and a further cut to 61500 in 2021.

The number of fish aggregating devices (FADs) that may be deployed by fishing nations using purse seine nets to catch tropical tuna has been reduced from 500 per vessel to 350 per vessel in 2020, and 300 per vessel in 2021.

FADs are used to attract and aggregate shoals of tuna and other ocean-going fish including marlin, which are then encircled and trapped by purse seine nets.

The use of FADs is known to result in the capture of high numbers of juvenile tuna and the entanglement of other marine species.

“By closing the FAD fishery, you’re giving the stock a greater chance of maturing and reproducing,” said Department Of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries pelagic and high seas fisheries deputy director and South African ICCAT delegation member Qayiso Mketsu.

A significant increase in the number of scientific observers deployed on longline and purse seine fishing vessels in the Atlantic Ocean is also included in the newly adopted measures.

It is expected that the measure will be reviewed and refined over the next two years with the ultimate goal of substantially reducing overfishing.

SA Tuna Association president Clyde Bodenham said: “This is a huge international achievement.”