Rt€@lll

J. Deeowater offshore resources
-78
In the tropical central and western Pacific, areas zuitable for large-scale harvesting of
bottom-fish resources by conventional means are Iimited. Hor,rlever, recently developed
f isheries f or deep water species in other regions of the Pacif ic Ocean indicate that
possibilities for development of fisheries for non-conventional species, or using
non-conventional techniques, do need to be considered as fisheries potentials..In recent years
fisheries for atfonsi; (aiEli splendens) and pelagic armourhead tpe^taggros .i.!q9:"li).F"-:
been developed m $reilamoifrffifr-to the northwest of Hawaii. ln this aree catch raLes of
pelagic ermourhead by experimental Russian trawlers have been as high as J0 tonnes in l0
minutes and commonty of ifre order of 20-J0 tonnes per l0 to flJ minute tow (Sakiura l97D'
Other rrurveyB and commencial fishing using bottom longlines and trawling gear- ha-ve
confirrned the resources of both pelagilc armo-urhead and alfonsin the north central Pacific
(JAMARC 197), Anon Lg76). The piospects for developing similar fisheries in the more
equatorial regions warrant investigation, particulalry..a" the pelagic armourhead has already
been proven io be a wide-ranging species (Sasaki L974)'
In addition, the recent spectacular catches of orange roughy tHoptostetnu" et-lenticus)
by large trawlers in waters off New Zealand increases interest in the prospects of finding
tiawlaUf deepwater resourees in more tropical areas of the Pacif ic, even though it is
doubtful if commercial concentretions of this particuler species (orange roughy) extend into
this area. Furthermore, preliminary reports of favourable catches of deepwater speciest
especially the red sriapper, Etelis carbunculus, in seamount areas in the waters ad.iacent to
Solomon Islands, and the oc-currence-T nunrerous presently unfished seamounts and oceen
plateaus in the central and western tropical Pacific, further suggest potentials for future
iisheries. It does, however, appear likely that deepwater fish resources are less in tropical
regions than in agsociation with the larger oceanic plateaus in higher latitudes.
Exploitation of deepwater resources, even if proven- economically viable_ in the tropical
pacific, would probably require very large vessels, possibly larger than 1,000 tonnes, and
hence rnassive capital inftow plus input from many qualified and experienced pensonnel. Direct
involvement of nationals of the region would therefore be anticipated to be minimal, et least
in the short term. This does not mean that the potentials will, or should, therefore be
ignored, or that Pacific Island states could not benefit from their exploitation. As later
d'iscussed, the increased rights of coastal states associated with chenginq attitudes to the
Law of ihe See has openeO up considerabte potential for coastal states to become more
involved in the exploitation of offshore resources.
4. Offshore peleqic resources
Fish catches from the tropical central and western Pacific in recent years have been
completely dominated by the highly migratory tunas and--billfish. In 1975, the lesL year for
which complete statistics a"e a"ail"bll; 25rr8t} tonnes (88 per ce,nt) of 1 total recorded fish
catch from the region of B9rL96 tonnes wag tuna or billfish (Table I). The comparative
magnitude of thesl tuna catches, and their significance to any discussion of fishery
potintials, warrsnts separate consideration of, firstly, the statua of ihe resources andt
secondly, the potentials for developing fieheries on ihese tEsourees.
Thc rerourcer
From the 1950a through to the end of the 1960s, tuna fishinq in the region wes
dominated by longlining. ln lfre earty I970e pole-and-line catches exceeded those of other
gear types. 'Whil; the -Jpanese distant-water pole-and-line fleet accounted for almost 8ll of
if," ""t"f, in this fishery in 1970, locally based joint ventutes increaged quickly and by 1978
reached a peak in annual production of more than 701000 tonnes. Total tuna catchea by
locally based pole-and-line ve$els have declined eonsiderably since this timer largely as a
result of the ceseation of the fishery in Papue New Guinea.
ln recent years, catchee by the Jpan based pole-and-line fleet and the longline fleets
of mogt nationalities have declined as a result of gerioug economic difficultiee in the tuna
industry. However, at the same time a tremendous increase in punoe-seining by predominantly
Jpanese and Unitid States veesels (Kearney l98la) has rnainteined the retative megnitude of
tune landinge from the region. Total eatches of tuna by purae-eeinere in the area considered
here were irobebly of thi order of l80rm0 tonnes in 1982, more than four timee the catch