The Australian fishing industry has criticised their national Bureau of Rural Sciences for issuing what the industry says is outdated data on tuna stocks
The Bureau reported in March that 17 of the 74 species it surveyed - including southern bluefin tuna, whose spawning rates were said to be at historically low levels since their decline in the 1950s- were at risk. The industry said findings were outdated and failed to take stock of a number of marked improvements. It said southern bluefin tuna was still being overfished and survival rates did not allow parent stocks to rebuild. The species could face 'serious problems' if nothing was done.
Australian Tuna Boat Owners Association president Brian Jeffries said the Bureau had not been thorough in its research on tuna stocks. "We would hope that by next year we're well on track to them saying tuna is not overfished any more," he added.
Last year, South Australia earned AUD 260 million (USD 204.3 million) from tuna fishing. Port Lincoln tuna farms received around 5,200 fish and Japan purchased over 9,000 tonnes, according to reports in the Adelaide Advertiser. The Bureau's report, reportedly used 2003 stock assessments, ranked the Australian Fishery Zone as the world's third largest, worth US$1.8 billion) in 2002-2003. Jeffries said the Bureau's report neglected data from last year, which reveals that 2004 tuna landings were the lowest on record and that tuna stocks augured well for 2005.
Tuna international
In the mid-1990s the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation developed a code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries. This took into account the various ways tuna were caught and the rational behind the industry's approach such as fishing area, depth etc. Catch techniques include seining, driftnetting, trapping, pole and lining, longlining or trolling.
To reduce pirate fishing of tuna the FAO said Flag States should ensure the validity of certificates and 'authorization to fish'.
"The potential of conflict existing between users of passive fishing methods...in use in small scale and artisanal fisheries...[and] larger scale in general cannot be ignored," it said.
It pointed out that "large tuna are usually found at greater depths than smaller ones, so fishing gears which reach deeper into the water catch larger fish than those which fish close to the surface i.e. when longliners fish at great depth, they catch, in general, large fish; poles and lines used by baitboats fishing just a few metres under the surface, usually catch a smaller size of tuna."
Bycatch
The bycatch debate has focused on seabirds being hooked on baited lines. It is interesting to note that a 1990's official report from Malta said it wanted to maintain its approximately 350t catch and that it had "never issued purse-seining licenses for tuna due to the conservationist approach."
Illegal longlining is suspected to be a problem in the Cook Islands, according to official reports.
A late 1990s report from National Academies of the US said approximately one quarter of the world's tuna catch is taken in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean (ETP) adding, "Catching tuna with purse seines is the most efficient method currently available. Yellowfin tuna and certain species of dolphins are often assosiated" it said but added that corralling easy-to-spot dolphin, to catch accompanying tuna, kills thousands of dolphins each year, despite a variety of new techniques and equipment to release them safely.
