78 



We believe that for 1978, total fresh and frozen tuna Imports came to about 

 802,000 short t.ms. \\y species: JfeUowfln— 72.9 ; Skipjack— 128.2 ; Biuefin— o.n ; 

 and Albacore— 100.0. 



An analysis of these statistics reveals the importance of the purse seine 

 vessel segment of the U.S. 'Puna Fleet to the supply of tuna, to the U.S. con- 

 sumer. It is the production of this parls of the U.S. Tuna Fleet that is 

 adversely affected by the .Marine .Mammal Protection Act of 11)72 (MMPA), 

 and necessarily by the recent Federal court actions. 



In 1976, there were about 139 tuna seiners and about 74 bait boats in the 

 U.S. tuna licet. But the real measure of fishing power is represented by the 

 fish catch capacity of these vessels and not by the number of vessels. The 

 frozen tuna carrying capacity of the 139 purse seine vessels was about 119,000 

 tons, while that of the 74 bait boats was only about 6,000 tons. This is why of 

 the :;20,000 tons of tuna landed by the 213 tuna clippers in the U.S. Fleet, 

 only 20.000 tons was caught by the 74 bait boats. 



Thus, for 1976, the 139 seiners in the U.S. tuna licet caught about. 300, 



tons of tuna or about 89 percent of all tuna landed by U.S. fishermen and 

 almost half of all tuna consumed in the United States. 



This production resulted in about 15 million cases of tuna or about three- 

 quarters of a billion cans of tuna. We estimate that each fisherman aboard 

 these 139 tuna clippers provided enough canned tuna last year for about 

 •12.000 fellow citizens. 



So far in 1977, the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC) 

 reports that tuna production in the Eastern Pacific regulatory area for the 

 tuna fleets of 12 nations is down 10,000 tons from 197G. All but 4 vessels in 

 the U.S. tuna purse saine fleet are Ashing in the Eastern Pacific. 



Based upon reports compiled by National Marine Fisheries Service (XMFS), 

 landings by the purse seine fleet in California is down about 50 percent in 

 1977 from 1970. Our estimates at the ATA is that at present the fleet's pro- 

 duction is down 15,000 tons in 1977 from 1970. 



We believe that these reports of reduced fish catches for the U.S. tuna fleet 

 thus far in 1977 has been caused by the inability of the U.S. purse seiners to 

 fish tuna associated with porpoise. From January 1 to January 25, the U.S. 

 fleet was unable to fish tuna associated with porpoise. Since January 28. the 

 fleet has been totally confused by the legal actions taken by the Circuit Court 

 of Appeals in Washington, D.C. This confusion and uncertainty continues to 

 this day. The ATA is still waiting for the Government to file its final regula- 

 tions under the MMPA so that it can file its application for a General Permit. 



Prior representations by Government attorneys in stating that a General 

 Permit Permit would be issued at the earliest by mid-April was based on the 

 view that the final regulations would be published by February 11, 1977. 



Should the tuna fleet be denied to fish for tuna associated with porpoise 

 until late April, then the fishermen will have oidy about 45 days of weather and 

 sea conditions free of tropical cyclone and hurricane activity in the area from 

 Baja California to Guatemala— an important yellowfin tuna fishing area. 



At present, the estimated production of yellowfin tuna for the international 

 tuna fleet in the area of the eastern Pacific designated by the IATTC and 

 known as the Commission Yellowfin Regulatory Area (CYRA) is about 2.000 

 tons behind the 1976 production for a comparable time period. This indicates 

 that the foreign fleets of 11 other countries are doing well. In 1970. the total 

 .Mich of yellowfin tuna was about 204,000 tons. For 1977. the IATTC scientific 

 staff can establish a quota of 210,000 tons for the CYRA. It also has the 

 authority to restrict the quota to 175,000 tons or a lower amount. In 1976. the 

 yellowfin tuna closed season commenced on March 20: in 1975. the closure date 

 was March 18. Tt is very reasonable to assume that the IATTC will establish 

 a closure date for the yellowfin tuna season prior to the date when the ATA 

 will be issued its General Permit by XMFS. Such an occurrence would cause 

 enormous damage to the U.S. tuna fleet. 



Based upon reports made to the IATTC and also to the U.S. Commissioners 

 to the IATTC, we believe that it is quite possible for the IATTC to reduce 

 the size of the 1077 Yellowfin Tuna Quota from 210.000 tons or 175.000 tons 

 ton lower quota. This action could be justified on the grounds stated in such 

 reports, namely, that the unilateral action of the U.S. in prohibiting the fish- 

 ing of tuna associated with porpoise has placed in jeopardy the objectives of 

 a yellowfin tuna conservation program that has been in existence since 1966. 



