■40- 



I.B.2. South Atlantic Fishery 



Bigeye catches for the south Atlantic longline fishery 

 peaked in 1971 (20,000 mt) , then gradually declined to 12,000 mt in 1979 

 (Figure 3b). Surface fishery catches peaked in 1974 (6,000 mt) and, after 

 a brief decline, remained relatively constant at 5,000 mt between 1977 and 

 1979. The provisional 1980 south Atlantic longline and surface fishery 

 catch is 13,600 mt. 



South Atlantic longline effort increased from 7 million 

 hooks in 1960 to 94 million hooks in 1976 (Figure 5). No reliable measure 

 of effort is available for the surface fishery. 



I.e. Value of Catch 



In the United States, yellowfin and bigeye tunas are marketed at 

 the same prices: $893/mt (1979, average ex-vessel) for fish less than 3.2 

 kg and $l,047/mt for fish greater than 3.2 kg. Based on an average price 

 of $970/mt, the value of north Atlantic bigeye caught by all fisheries in 

 1979 was $21 million; the total south Atlantic bigeye catch was worth $16 

 million. The total 1979 U.S. bigeye catch was worth approximately 

 $200,000. 



I.D. Current Management of the Fishery 



In 1979, the International Commission for the Conservation of 

 Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) recommended to their member nations that they adopt 

 a minimum size limit regulation for bigeye tuna. The regulation states: 



"That the Contracting Parties take the necessary measures 

 to prohibit any taking and landing of bigeye tuna ( Thunnus 

 obesus) weighing less than 3.2 kg until December 31, 1983. 



Notwithstanding the above regulations, the Contracting 

 Parties may grant tolerances to boats which have inciden- 

 tally captured bigeye tuna weighing less than 3.2 kg with 

 the condition that this incidental catch should not exceed 

 15% of the number of fish per landing of the total bigeye 

 catch of said boats." 



This size regulation was adopted to 1) increase yield-per-recruit 

 of bigeye tuna by reducing fishing mortality on small fish, and 2) reduce 

 the misreporting of small yellowfin tuna in landings as bigeye tuna. The 

 U.S. adopted these regulations for bigeye tuna in early 1981. 



