UNIT 18 

 PACIFIC HIGHLY MIGRATORY PELAGIC FISHERIES 



core, marlins, spearfish, sailfish, swordhsh, sharks, 

 and other large fishes. Most are caught commer- 

 cially, but some, especially marlins, support im- 

 portant recreational fisheries as well. 



Tropical Tunas 



Longline gear is used to catch yellowtin and 

 bigeye tunas across the Pacific, whereas the purse 

 seine is the primary gear in the eastern and the 

 western tropical Pacilic for capture ot vellowfin 

 and skipjack tunas. Purse seine fishing is conducted 

 generally between latitude 20^N and 20°S. 

 Longline fishing extends to higher latitudes (e.g. 

 to 40°N). Other gears used in the central-western 

 Pacific fisheries include ring net, handline, troll, 

 and pole-and-line. Purse seiners, dominated by 

 U.S. and Japanese fleets but with substantial fleets 

 from Korea and Faiwan, take 30-'iO% ot the yel- 

 lowfin tuna catch in the central-western Pacific. 

 In 1996, the total number of purse seiners in the 

 central-western Pacific was more than 200, includ- 

 ing 40 U.S. seiners. Virtually all skipjack tuna is 

 taken by pole-and-line and purse seine. Most of 

 the bigeye tuna catch is taken by longline gear. 



Me.xico is the primary fishing nation in the 

 eastern tropical Pacific. Others include the United 

 States, Vanuatu, Venezuela, and some other coastal 

 nations. Major fishing fleets in the central-west- 

 ern Pacific come from the United States, Japan, 

 Republic of Korea, Philippines, and Taiwan. Cur- 

 rent, recent, and long-term potential yields tor the 

 various species are given in Table 18-1. 



More skipjack tuna are caught than any other 

 tuna species. The recent annual yield of Pacific 

 skipjack tuna taken by U.S. and foreign fleets is 

 950,527 metric tons (t) from the central-western 

 Pacific and 135,697 t fiom the eastern tropical 

 Pacific (Figure 18-1); recreational catches are small. 

 The species is believed to be underutilized, with 

 the long-term potential \'ield tor the central-west- 

 ern stock between 4,000,000 and 6,000,000 t. The 

 annual dockside ex-vessel revenue ot the U.S. and 

 foreign Pacific skipjack tuna catch is about 

 5869,000,000, and for yellowfin tuna it is well in 

 excess of $474,000,000. These figures are based 

 on a conservative dockside price ot S800/t tor both 

 species. The recent average yield of yellowfin tuna 

 tor the entire Pacific is about 592,784 t (Table 



Landings 

 (x 1,000 t) 



800 



Landings 

 1- 1.000 tl 



Eastern tropical Pacific 



90 



95 



Year 



Figure 18-1 



Landings of sl<ipjacl< tuna in 

 the Pacific Ocean region, 

 1970-97, in metric tons (t). 



Central western Pacific 



Eastern tropical Pacific 



Year 



18-1), distributed about equally between the east- 

 ern tropical and the central-western Pacific (Fig- 

 ure 18-2). Recent assessments of yellowfin tuna 



Figure 18-2 



Landings of yellowfin tuna 

 in ttie Pacific Ocean region, 

 1970-97, in metric tons (t). 



1 95 



