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I. DESCRIPTION OF THE FISHERY 



Atlantic yellowfin tuna are caught by multi species fisheries located 

 throughout the tropical regions of the Atlantic Ocean; skipjack and bigeye 

 tunas are also caught. Three principal fishing methods are used in these 

 fisheries: purse seine, baitboat, and longline. Analyses of Atlantic 

 yellowfin tuna fisheries usually consider fisheries in two geographical 

 regions: an eastern Atlantic fishery and a western Atlantic fishery, 

 divided at 30° W longitude (Figure 1). 



I. A. History of the Fishery 



I.A.I. Eastern Atlantic Fishery 



Baitboats from France and Spain started the eastern 

 Atlantic surface fishery for yellowfin tuna in 1955 and purse seiners 

 entered the fishery in the early 1960's. The longline fishery started in 

 1957 with the Japanese longline fleet. Currently, 14 countries participate 

 in the eastern Atlantic surface fishery and 6 countries participate in the 

 longline fishery. 



The major participants in the eastern Atlantic 

 fisheries are the French-Ivory Coast-Senegalese-Moroccan (FISM), Spanish, 

 Korean/Panamanian, and U.S. fleets. These fleets caught 90% of the average 

 eastern Atlantic yellowfin tuna catches during the period 1975 to 1979 

 (Figure 2a) . 



I. A. 2. Western Atlantic Fishery 



The yellowfin tuna fishery in the western Atlantic, 

 started by the Japanese in the 1950's, is primarily a longline fishery. 

 Catches are concentrated in areas off Brazil and Venezuela, with some 

 catches in the Gulf of Mexico and off the U.S. east coast (Figure 1). 

 Surface fisheries for yellowfin tuna in the western Atlantic have existed 

 from time to time off Venezuela and off the U.S. east coast, but the 

 catches have been small (highest reported catch is 5,000 mt) . 



The major participants in the western Atlantic fishery 

 are Korea/Panama, Japan, Venezuela, Cuba, and the U.S. These fleets 

 accounted for 88X of the total western Atlantic yellowfin catch during the 

 period 1975 to 1979 (Figure 2b). 



