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Albacore Tuna Have fl Uctuated Considerably from Year To Tuna [211] 86587_p211_220.indd 211 12/30/04 4:53:37 PM highlights ■ The catches of Pacifi c bluefi n tuna and North Pacifi c albacore tuna have fl uctuated considerably from year to Ocean year, but no upward or downward trends are apparent for either species. and ■ Increasing the age at entry of Pacifi c bluefi n into the fi shery might increase the yields per recruit of that Climate species. ■ The status of North Pacifi c albacore is uncertain, but most scientists believe that greater harvests of that species Changes would not be sustainable. [212] 86587_p211_220.indd 212 12/30/04 4:53:38 PM background The Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC) studies the tunas of the eastern Pacifi c Ocean (EPO), defi ned for its purposes as the area bounded by the coastline of North, Central, and South America, 40ºN, 150ºW, and 40ºS. The IATTC staff maintains records for most of the vessels that fi sh at the surface for skipjack tuna (Katsuwonus pelamis), yellowfi n tuna (Thunnus albacares), bigeye tuna (T. obesus), and Pacifi c bluefi n tuna (T. orientalis) in the EPO. Pacifi c bluefi n and albacore tuna (T. alalunga) are the tunas most relevant to the region of interest to PICES. Pacifi c bluefi n tuna Spawning of Pacifi c bluefi n apparently takes place only Age-1 and older fi sh are caught by purse seining, in the western Pacifi c Ocean (WPO). Some juvenile mostly during May-September between about 30°- bluefi n move from the WPO to the EPO, and then later 42°N and 140°-152°E. Bluefi n of various sizes are also return to the WPO. Others apparently never move to caught by traps, gillnets, and other gear, especially the EPO.386 off the western side of Japan. Bluefi n are also caught near the southeastern coast of Japan by longlining. Pacifi c bluefi n are exploited by various gears in the The high-seas longline fi sheries are directed mainly WPO from Taiwan to Hokkaido.357 Age-0 fi sh about 15 at tropical tunas, albacore, and billfi shes, but some to 30 cm in length are caught by trolling during July- Pacifi c bluefi n are also caught. Catch distributions of October south of Shikoku Island and south of Shizuoka bluefi n by Japanese longliners during 1952-1997 in Prefecture. During November-April, age-0 fi sh about 35 the Pacifi c Ocean are shown in Figure 145.387 Small to 60 cm in length are taken by trolling south and west amounts of Pacifi c bluefi n are also caught by Japanese of Kyushu Island. Tuna pole-and-line vessels on the high seas. [213] 86587_p211_220.indd 213 12/30/04 4:53:38 PM Most of the catches of Pacifi c bluefi n tuna in the EPO are In the EPO, Pacifi c bluefi n tuna are found most often in taken by purse seiners. Nearly all of this catch is made waters where the sea-surface temperatures (SSTs) are west of Baja California and California, within about 100 between 17° and 23°C.389 Fish of about 15 to 30 cm in nautical miles of the coast, between about 23° and 33°N. length are found in the WPO in waters where the SSTs are Lesser amounts of Pacifi c bluefi n are caught by recreational, between 24° and 29°C. Conditions in the WPO probably gillnet, and longline gear. They are caught during every infl uence the portions of the juvenile fi sh there that move to month of the year, but most of the fi sh are taken from the EPO, and also the timing of these movements. Likewise, May to October. The distributions of purse-seine catches of conditions in the EPO probably infl uence the length of their Pacifi c bluefi n tuna in the EPO during 1970-1989 are shown sojourn there and the timing of the return of the juvenile in Figure 146. fi sh to the WPO. 50 9 0 0 0 0 0 337 21 42 46 26 21 47 8 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 40 0 485 86 49 23 20 18 171 73 26 10 5 8 9 2 0 0 0 0 20 619 174 39 14 13 16 11 154 36 5 6 8 4 7 2 2 1 1 1 1 0 30 1 176 267 253 123 18 7 4 3 2 4 3 1 2 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 78 501 154 3 5 2 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 20 0 3 11 16 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 4 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 0 1 1 3 2 1 2 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -10 0 2 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -20 8 2 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 3 2 1 11 50 8 15 16 25 3 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 -30 1 1 0 0 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 4 0 0 0 23 1 -40 Ocean 1 0 0 1 3 0 0 0 0 4 1 -50 0 and 120 130 140 150 160 170 180 170 160 150 140 130 120 110 100 90 80 Climate [Figure 145] Five degree areas in which Pacifi c bluefi n tuna were captured by the Japanese longline fl eet during January 1952–December 1997.387 The numbers indicate the total number of Pacifi c bluefi n tuna (100s) removed from Changes each quadrangle during this period (zeros indicate catches of less than 51 fi sh). The quadrangles inside the polygon extending from Japan to 150°W constitute the core area.388 [214] 86587_p211_220.indd 214 12/30/04 4:53:38 PM 390 [Figure 146] Annual distributions of Pacifi c bluefi n tuna catches in the eastern Pacifi c Ocean, 1970-1989. Tuna [215] 86587_p211_220.indd 215 12/30/04 4:53:39 PM 1.2 1.0 hooks) 0.8 0.6 (numbers/10,000 CPUE 0.4 0.2 1960 1970 1980 1990 Year [Figure 148] Time series of regional abundance indices for the Pacifi c bluefi n tuna core area. The trend with a dashed line is the [Figure 147] Catch, effort, and catch-per-unit of effort for the time series estimated from the safe abundance indices. The trend surface fi shery for bluefi n tuna in the EPO as determined by the with a solid line is the time series estimated from pooling the safe habitat index method. The data for 1998 are preliminary.390 and the extrapolated abundance indices.387 Indices of abundance of Pacifi c bluefi n in the EPO have Albacore tuna been calculated, but none is entirely satisfactory. The There are two stocks of albacore in the Pacifi c Ocean, one 1° areas north of 23°N and west of California and Baja occurring in the northern hemisphere and the other in the California (Figure 146) in which the SSTs were 17-23°C southern hemisphere. In the North Pacifi c, the adults are from May-October were defi ned as “bluefi n habitat.”391 apparently most abundant in the Kuroshio Current, the The annual catches of Pacifi c bluefi n in those areas were North Pacifi c Transition Zone, and the California Current, divided by the corresponding numbers of unstandardized but spawning occurs in tropical and subtropical waters.395 days of fi shing effort to obtain CPUEs (Figure 147). Indices Albacore are caught by longliners in most of the North of bluefi n abundance in the WPO were prepared for a joint Pacifi c, but not often between about 10°N and 5°S, and workshop with the National Research Institute of Far Seas also by trollers in the eastern and central North Pacifi c, Fisheries (NRIFSF) of Japan.387 The resulting time series for and by baitboats in the western North Pacifi c.395 Albacore the “core area” (Figure 145) of the Japanese longline fi shery are caught in the North Pacifi c primarily by vessels of are shown in Figure 148. Canada, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Mexico, Taiwan, and Scientists of the NRIFSF have been tagging Pacifi c bluefi n the U.S.A.396 During the 1980s and 1990s, the catches in Ocean tuna with archival tags to study the relationships between the North Pacifi c have ranged between about 38,000 and their movements and the physical environment.392,393 The 122,000 metric tons.396 movements of one fi sh that made a trans-Pacifi c migration and There appear to be two subgroups of albacore in the North while carrying an archival tag has been described.394 Pacifi c Ocean.
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