1999 

 OUR LIVING OCEANS 



Landings 

 {X 1,000 t) 



South Pacific 



Figure 18-3 



Landings of albacore tuna in 

 the Pacific Ocean region, 

 1970-97, in metric tons (t). 



Year 



iiidiL.ite that the lotig-tcrni potcnti.il yield for the 

 eastern tropical Pacific is about 300,000 t, mak- 

 ing this resource kiily utilized. I he long-term po- 

 tential yield for the central-western Pacific is esti- 

 mated at 600,000 to 670,000 t, indicating the 

 stock is underutilized. 



The recent average yield of bigeye tuna for the 

 entire Pacific is about 1 33,000 t (Table 18-1) gen- 

 erating ex-vessel revenues of about $ 1 billion, with 

 most of the catch taken by foreign longline fisher- 

 ies. Bigeye tuna is mostly sold for raw consump- 

 tion as Japanese-style "sashimi ' and brings the 

 highest dockside price of any tropical tuna (about 

 $7,000/t). The best available estimates of long- 

 term and current potential yield are abnut 1 60,000 

 t (Table 18-1 ), and the current level of fishing ef- 

 fort is the highest recorded to date. Recent catches 

 and catch rates have been lower than seen during 

 the 1990-92 period, and the stock may be fully 

 utilized. 



Albacore 



Albacore is fished from the northern limits of 

 the North Pacific Transition Zone to about lati- 

 tude l'S°N, and from lapan to North America. In 

 the South Pacific, it is fished from about latitude 

 15°S to the southern limits of the .Subtropical 



Convergence Zone and from South America to 

 Australia. 



In the North Pacific, albacore is fished prima- 

 rily by longline, pole-and-line, trolling, and until 

 1992, drift gillnet. Longline gear is used in the 

 lower latitudes and accounts h)r about 20-25% 

 of the current catches. The surface fisheries (pole- 

 and-line, troll) operate in the higher latitudes of 

 the North Pacific Transition Zone and account for 

 75-80% of the catches. The U.S. fishery extends 

 from the middle of the Pacific C^cean to the North 

 American coast and uses between 500 and 2,000 

 vessels. Based on a dockside price of $2,200/t, the 

 annual ex-vessel revenue of the North Pacific al- 

 bacore catch is about $145 million. 



South Pacific albacore is fished primarily by 

 longline and trolling. As in the north, longliners 

 operate nearer the equator than trollers. Surface 

 gear is fished in the Tasman Sea and in the Sub- 

 tropical Convergence Zone at about longitude 

 160°W. In 1996, about 50 U.S. trollers fished the 

 South Pacific. 



Pacific albacore (both the north and south 

 stocks) has a long history of exploitation (Figure 

 1 8-3). Recent development of a large surface fish- 

 ery in the South Pacific, in addition to the longline 

 fishery, has changed the previous stock assessments 

 from fully exploited, under a longline-only fish- 

 ery, to unknown. No long-term potential yield has 

 yet been estimated, but a comprehensive assess- 

 ment is needed due to the opposing effects of a 

 rapid expansion of the troll fishery in the late 

 1980's and termination of the driftnet fishery in 

 1991. 



In the North Pacific, total catches, catch rates, 

 and fishing effort in the U.S. troll fishery and the 

 lapanese pole-and-line fishery declined until the 

 early 1990's then began increasing through 1996 

 (Figure 1 8-3). Current assessments estimate long- 

 term potenti.il \icld between 80,000 and 1 04,000 

 t. This follows a fieriod of higher stock utilization 

 at or above the long-term potential yield in the 

 1970's. I his early high production, coupled with 

 a drift gillnet fishery from 1 980 to 1 992 (for which 

 statistics are incomplete), probably overutilized the 

 stock. It appears that the stock has recovered from 

 the earlier period of <iverfishing; however, increas- 

 ing catches may once again threaten the stock. 



1 96 



