It said the purse seine is a preferred technique for capturing fish species close to the surface: sardines, mackerel, anchovies, herring, certain species of tuna and salmon.
This form of fishing, which is not used often in the CNMI, is one of the main causes of overfishing.
If the juvenile fish is caught, it has no chance of growing into a full adult to spawn.
“I love fish. My family loves tuna which we cook and make sashimi. I also understand that all animals that are poached constantly can become extinct. This is a warning to the fishermen that we will run out of tuna if we aren’t careful,” said a local fisherman who declined to be identified.
In the CNMI, one common method used by fishermen to catch tuna is “trolling,” which involves one or more fishing lines, baited with lures or bait fish.
Pacific bigeye tuna population levels are near or above target levels, but overfishing continues to occur, the fisheries council said.
The Pacific bigeye tuna is a highly migratory fish stock and requires cooperative international management to be sustainable.
The Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission and the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission are the regional fishery management organizations that manage this species in the Pacific.
Almost all of the U.S. commercial harvest of bigeye tuna comes from the Pacific, namely Hawaii.
A small amount is exported, but the remainder makes up around half of the bigeye tuna we eat.
The states also imports bigeye tuna from around the world, mainly from Asia, South America, and Central America.
‘Overfished’
Although the bigeye tuna is experiencing overfishing, it is not being overfished.
Overfishing refers to the rate of harvest of a species.
It occurs when more fish are being taken from a stock than the fish population can replace through reproduction or immigration from other populations.
The stock is being depleted too quickly, but the stock size may still be fairly large.
Overfished status is based on the amount of fish in the sea.
A species is declared overfished when the population size is below a certain level determined by scientists to be healthy.
The main goal is to decrease overfishing so that the tuna are allowed time to spawn new fish in order to keep their population balanced.
Proposals
The fisheries council adopted conservation and management measures for 2009-2011, which include 30 percent reduction in long-line catches through national quotas and FAD closure for purse seine fisheries, but with exemptions.
The European Union is proposing replacing the current FAD closure with a full closure of purse seine fishing from July 1 to Sept. 30, which will mean a 30 percent reduction of bigeye catches for the purse seine fleets.
Japan is proposing a measure to limit the number of purse-seine vessels and their capacity.
A meeting is scheduled for Dec. 6 to 10 in Oahu, Hawaii to discuss the Pacific bigeye tuna quotas, closures and compliances.
Four hundred delegates and observers from the Pacific nations, territories and distant-water fishing nations as far as Europe will participate.
For more information, visit www.wcpfc.
