Pacific bluefin tuna. (Photo Credit: NOAA)

Pew urges Pacific bluefin tuna stock protection be stepped up

JAPAN
Wednesday, April 01, 2015, 01:30 (GMT + 9)

The measures to stop Pacific bluefin tuna stock decline agreed by fishing nations are not enough, according to new research.

This is the conclusion drawn by the analysis issued by Japan’s National Research Institute of Far Seas Fisheries, which states that this species has already been depleted to just 4 per cent of unfished levels, The Pew Charitable Trusts informed.

The NGO’s director of global tuna conservation data Amanda Nickson has explained that in the waters south of Japan, catch rates suggest that the Pacific bluefin tuna population produced fewer young fish in 2014 than at any time since 2008. And in the Sea of Japan, the number of new “recruits” was 77 per cent lower than just one year earlier.

This stock assessment has revealed that 97.6 per cent of all Pacific bluefin tuna caught are still juveniles and that this high catch of young fish, combined with a possible recruitment collapse, means that the chance of seeing even a slight rebuilding of the population by the 2024 deadline agreed to last year by the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission is becoming less likely.

Given the results of all these analysis, The Pew Charitable Trusts believes that there should be an immediate reduction in the catch of adult fish in the western Pacific Ocean to protect these breeding fish.

The NGO stresses that that would lead to an increased supply of young fish in future years. Catch limits on juveniles in 2016 and beyond should be reduced to allow more of these fish to reach maturity and help build the population.

“By taking these steps, Pacific bluefin may still receive another chance. But if fishery managers fail to adequately address the plight of this important fish, it may be time to consider stronger actions that take the future of the species out of their hands and into the realm of more conservation-minded international bodies,” the NGO concludes.
 

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