The global TAC for 2010 and 2011 was cut to 9,449 tonnes from the previous 11,810 tonnes. (Photo: Fritsches, K, Fishbase)

Increased cuts for southern bluefin tuna

The governments of countries that harvest SBT plus the Australian Southern Bluefin Tuna Industry Association (ASBTIA) got together at the annual Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna (CCSBT) in Taiwan to talk about stock management approaches that will direct moves regarding quota levels starting in late 2012. The CCSBT members are Australia, Indonesia, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea and Taiwan and the three cooperating non-members are the Philippines, South Africa and the European Union (EU).

A new total allowable catch (TAC) for SBT will be established next year for implementation in 2012. The new TAC will probably be lower than the current one to help the spawning stock bounce back to 20 per cent of the original population, according to Taiwan's Fisheries Agency. 

Right now, the SBT spawning biomass remains at about 5 per cent or less of unfished levels - a dismal number - said CCSBT, CNA reports.

The global TAC for 2010 and 2011 was already cut to 9,449 tonnes from the previous 11,810 tonnes to mitigate the harvesting pressure on the fish.

Brian Jeffriess, chief executive of the Australian tuna association, said that even though progress at the meeting was unhurried, it was real and leading to new stock assessments that will allow the industry to evolve in great measure.

Increasingly, decisions were being made based on models alone as opposed to a combination of models and common sense, thus giving more precise results, according to Jeffriess, reports Port Lincoln Times.

"The benefit of the new stock assessment will be that it will use real data, and not data corrupted by the illegal catch," he noted. "The industry's view is that there has been a large underestimation of the size of the illegal catch, and of the capacity of bluefin stocks to recover."

The meeting pointed to the Australian Government acknowledging that it must reach a balance with its long-term responsibilities to the bluefin stock as well as to the families in Eyre Peninsula who rely both directly and indirectly on the industry, he told.

"This much stronger and balanced approach is very welcome. Governments and industry both need to exercise caution on the SBT stock because a lot of people depend on the right long-term judgments being made about the future," Jeffriess continued.

The challenge for fishery managers, he said, was to reflect on the past and figure out why model predictions failed, such that they can apply this information in the future to help prevent more workers in the industry from losing their jobs over mistakes made by governments. 

Related articles:

- Tuna stocks brimming: fishers 
- Tuna decision pummels Port Lincoln industry 
- Southern bluefin tuna quota set 

By Natalia Real
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