The CMM may also include measures for yellowfin and skipjack tuna.
The commission said the measures put in place for 2009-2011 have not met the target 30 percent reduction in bigeye fishing mortality. While the Pacific bigeye tuna stock is not overfished, its spawning biomass has been reduced by 75 percent since the 1950’s, the commission said.
It added that the existing CMM for bigeye tuna has resulted in an approximately 20 percent reduction of longline harvest of adult bigeye tuna, but it has not curbed the bycatch of juvenile bigeye by the purse-seine fleets utilizing fish aggregation devices.
There are no purse-seine fleets on Saipan, Tinian, and Rota. However, there are some local fishermen who use the long-line method of catching tuna. Biologist Mike Tenorio of the Department of Lands and Natural Resources told Variety that while the CNMI does not commonly use these two methods, it is a frequently used technique in the southern islands like the Federated States of Micronesia.
“However, all new regulations apply to the CNMI whether or not we use these methods of fishing,” Tenorio added.
