STOCK assessment on Pacific bluefin tuna has revealed that the tuna fishery has been fished down more than 97 per cent.
It has been found that the population is at just 2.6 per cent of its historic size and that overall fishing mortality remains up to three times higher than is sustainable.
Projections from the International Scientific Committee for Tuna and Tuna-like species in the North Pacific Ocean show that the catch limits now in place have a less than one per cent chance of successfully rebuilding the population over the next 20 years.
“Scientific estimates have indicated that the population of Pacific bluefin tuna is severely depleted. Still, the governments charged with managing the species continue to deny them a viable rescue plan despite clear indications that the population is hovering near an all-time low. Commercial fishing continues at a rate up to three times higher than what is considered sustainable. This must come to an immediate end,” Director of Global tuna conservation for Pew Charitable Trusts, Amanda Nickson said.
Fishsite Newsdesk says despite that dire state, the two international bodies that manage Pacific bluefin-the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission, which met this month in California, and the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission, which meets in December in Fiji, have failed for several years to agree on a Pacific-wide recovery plan that will end overfishing and return the population to healthy levels.
“Governments involved in this fishery have known for many years that they need to act in order to drive a bluefin recovery, and yet overfishing continues. An initial two-year commercial fishing ban would protect the species by ending overfishing,” Ms Nickson said.
“Pacific-wide bluefin are now imperiled across their full range to a degree beyond anything ever seen for a tuna population. It is time for those responsible for managing this species to consider the science and use the tools at their disposal to help bluefin tuna recover.
“If governments fail to take immediate action, a population collapse isn’t just possible-it’s inevitable,” she added.
