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I.D. Current Management of the Fishery 



Yellowfin tuna fisheries in the Atlantic Ocean are managed 

 cooperatively by the 19 member nations of the International Commission for 

 the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT). The Commission adopted a 

 yellowfin minimum size regulation in July 1973 that states 



". . .that the Contracting States take the necessary measures 

 to prohibit any taking and landing of yellowfin tuna weighing 

 less than 3.2 kg. 



Notwithstanding the above regulation, the Contracting 

 States may grant tolerances to boats which have incidentally 

 captured yellowfin weighing less than 3.2 kg, with the condi- 

 tion that this incidental catch should not exceed 15X of the 

 number of fish per landing of the total yellowfin catch of 

 said boats." 



The size regulation was adopted to decrease fishing mortality on 

 young yellowfin tuna and increase yield-per-recruit. 



II. NATURE AND SIGNIFICANCE OF U.S. AND FOREIGN 

 PARTICIPATION IN THE FISHERY 



The U.S. interest in Atlantic yellowfin tuna is concerned with: 1) 

 harvesting by our domestic fleet, 2) processing of domestic and foreign 

 catch, 3) consumption of the canned product, and 4) maintaining a reliable 

 and steady market for yellowfin through conservation measures. 



Only part of the U.S. tropical tuna fleet, predominately an eastern 

 tropical Pacific industry, fishes in the Atlantic Ocean. These vessels 

 usually enter the fishery in the summer soon after the yellowfin tuna 

 regulatory area (CYRA) in the eastern tropical Pacific is closed to 

 yellowfin fishing, and usually return to the Pacific by December. The 

 fleet is composed mainly of large purse seiners. The number of U.S. 

 vessels that annually participate in the fishery peaked in 1972 (40 

 vessels), dropping to 12 vessels in 1979 (Figure 6a). Only 6 U.S. vessels 

 fished in the Atlantic in 1980. The yellowfin catch of these vessels 

 peaked in 1969 (18,791 mt) and has averaged 7,400 mt from 1967 to 1979 

 (Figure 6b). The 1979 U.S. Atlantic yellowfin catch of 3,200 mt was worth 

 approximately $3 million (the entire industry catch was 141,000 mt worth 

 $137 million). Preliminary U.S. catch of yellowfin and bigeye in 1980 (the 

 two species are not separated in preliminary figures) was 8,500 mt. 



