REPORT OF THE STANDING COMMITTEE ON RESEARCH ... - Iccat

ICCAT REPORT 2010-2011 (I)
Canada
Bluefin tuna are harvested in Canadian waters from July through December over the Scotian Shelf, in the Gulf of
St. Lawrence, in the Bay of Fundy, and off Newfoundland. The adjusted Canadian quota for 2009 was 553.8t. t.
A total of 429 licensed fishermen participated in the directed bluefin fishery using rod and reel, handlines,
electric harpoon and trap nets to harvest 469 t. Each fish harvested is individually tagged with a unique number
and it is mandatory to have every fish weighed out at dockside.
The swordfish fishery in Canadian waters takes place from April to December. Canada’s adjusted swordfish
quota for 2009 was 1343.2 t with landings reaching 1300 t. The tonnage taken by longline was 1051.8 t while
248 t were taken by harpoon. Only 44 of the 77 licensed swordfish longline fishermen landed fish in the 2009
fishery.
The other tunas (albacore, bigeye and yellowfin) are at the northern edge of their range in Canada throughout the
year. Canadian catches of these species have traditionally been a minor portion of the overall Canadian catch of
large pelagic species. Porbeagle is the only shark species for which there is a directed longline fishery and the
combined directed and by-catch harvests were 62 t in 2009.
All commercial vessels fishing pelagic species are required to hail out their intention to fish prior to a trip and
hail in any harvests. The Canadian Atlantic statistical systems provide real time monitoring of catch and effort
for all fishing trips on pelagic species. At the completion of each fishing trip, independent and certified Dockside
Monitors must be present for off-loading, and log record data must be submitted by each fisherman whether fish
are harvested or not.
The Annual Report of Canada contains details of recent scientific initiatives, and interested parties are referred to
that document. In addition, a population dynamics specialist has been retained on a full time basis, and this
individual will be devoted to ICCAT-related work.
Cape Verde
In 2009, the Cape Verde industrial and semi-industrial tuna fleet was comprised of about 70 operational vessels.
The total catch amounted to 10,583 tons (t), caught mainly with purse seine and pole and line in the industrial
fishery or semi-industrial fishery and with hand line in artisanal fishing. This shows a notable declining trend as
compared to the previous year. There are no fishing activities targeting sharks, but due to the fragility of our
surveillance, sharks are often part of the by-catches of the foreign longline fleet that fishes in the Cape Verde
EEZ. The sport fishery has been the target of a reasonable demand but there is not yet any clear, detailed
regulation on this matter. Billfishes are caught in Cape Verde waters, mainly by EU vessels and sport fishing.
The licensed foreign fleet, fishing in the Cape Verde EEZ, is based on fishing agreements or contracts. These
vessels are mostly from European Union and Asian countries. The objective of the research is to make
recommendations for optimal and sustainable exploitation of the aquatic living resources, so as to achieve the
economic and social objectives established in the policy on development. Research on fishing and the
environment and socio-economic studies are thus of considerable importance for the development of fishing.
Cape Verde submits information related to catches, and thus contributes to the updating of statistics and the
ICCAT stock assessments.
China (People´s Republic)
Longline is the only fishing gear used by the Chinese fishing fleet to fish tunas in the Atlantic Ocean. Twenty-six
(26) Chinese tuna longliners operated in 2009, with a total catch (in round weight) of 6,357.5 t including tuna,
tuna-like species and sharks, 938.8 t less than that of 2008 (7,296.3 t). The target species were bigeye tuna and
bluefin tuna, whose catches in 2009 amounted to 4,973 t and 41.7 t, respectively. Bigeye tuna was the major
target species in the Chinese catch, accounting for 78.2% of the total; however, this was 713 t lower than that of
2008 (5,686 t). Yellowfin tuna, swordfish and albacore were taken as by-catch. The catch of yellowfin tuna
decreased from 649 t in 2008 to 462 t in 2009. The catch of swordfish was 383 t, with a decrease from the
previous year (562 t in 2008). The catch of albacore was 116 t, which represented a 136.7% increase from the
previous year.
The data compiled, including Task I and Task II as well as the number of fishing vessels have been routinely
reported to the ICCAT Secretariat by the Bureau of Fisheries (BOF), Ministry of Agriculture of the People´s
Republic of China. The PRC has carried out a national scientific observer program for the tuna fishery in ICCAT
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