Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) Final Report Kiribati albacore, bigeye and yellowfin tuna longline fishery On behalf of Kiribati Fish Ltd Prepared by Control Union (UK) Ltd November 2020 Authors: Dr Jo Gascoigne Peter Watt Kat Collinson Cora Seip-Markensteijn Control Union (UK) Limited 56 High Street Lymington SO41 9AH United Kingdom Tel: ++44 (0) 1590 613007 Fax: ++44 (0) 1590 671573 Email: [email protected] Web: http://uk.controlunion.com Contents CONTENTS .................................................................................................................................................. 1 GLOSSARY .................................................................................................................................................. 6 QA ...................................................................................................................................................... 10 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ........................................................................................................................ 11 2 AUTHORSHIP AND PEER REVIEWERS ..................................................................................................... 14 3 DESCRIPTION OF THE FISHERY .............................................................................................................. 18 3.1 Units of Assessment (UoA) and Scope of Certification Sought ............................................. 18 3.1.1 UoA and Proposed Unit of Certification (UoC) ............................................................................... 18 3.1.2 Final UoC(s) ..................................................................................................................................... 20 3.1.3 Total Allowable Catch (TAC) and Catch Data .................................................................................. 21 3.1.4 Scope of Assessment in Relation to Enhanced Fisheries ................................................................ 21 3.1.5 Scope of Assessment in Relation to Introduced Species Based Fisheries (ISBF) ............................. 21 3.2 Overview of the fishery ......................................................................................................... 22 3.2.1 The Client fishery ............................................................................................................................ 22 3.2.2 History of the fishery and its management .................................................................................... 23 3.2.3 Gear and operation of the fishery .................................................................................................. 24 3.2.4 Fishing areas and seasons ............................................................................................................... 25 3.3 Principle One: Target Species Background ........................................................................... 26 3.3.1 Low Trophic Level (LTL) species ...................................................................................................... 26 3.3.2 Management of target stocks ......................................................................................................... 26 3.3.3 WCPFC harvest strategy – cross-cutting issues .............................................................................. 27 3.3.4 Tropical tunas: Harvest strategy – brief history .............................................................................. 27 3.3.5 Tropical tunas: Harvest strategy – current situation ...................................................................... 28 3.3.6 Tropical tunas: Analysis of management options ........................................................................... 32 3.3.7 Tropical tunas: PNA harvest strategy and the VDS ......................................................................... 34 3.3.8 Progress by WCPFC towards a formal harvest strategy .................................................................. 35 3.3.9 Information gathered by Kiribati .................................................................................................... 35 3.4 Principle One: Yellowfin Background .................................................................................... 36 3.4.1 Yellowfin stock definition ............................................................................................................... 36 3.4.2 Yellowfin biology ............................................................................................................................. 36 3.4.3 WCPO yellowfin stock status .......................................................................................................... 37 3.4.4 Yellowfin stock status projections .................................................................................................. 41 3.4.5 Yellowfin information available for stock assessment.................................................................... 42 3.4.6 Yellowfin stock assessment ............................................................................................................ 44 3.5 Principle One: Bigeye Background ........................................................................................ 46 3.5.1 Bigeye stock definition .................................................................................................................... 46 3.5.2 Bigeye biology ................................................................................................................................. 48 3.5.3 Bigeye stock status ......................................................................................................................... 49 3.5.4 Bigeye stock projections ................................................................................................................. 50 3.5.5 Bigeye information ......................................................................................................................... 51 3.5.6 Bigeye stock assessment ................................................................................................................. 53 3.6 Principle One: South Pacific Albacore Tuna .......................................................................... 56 CU UK MSC Full Assessment Reporting TemplateFCR v2.0 (8th October 2014) 3256R03G 1 3.6.1 Pacific albacore stock definition ..................................................................................................... 56 3.6.2 Pacific albacore biology .................................................................................................................. 56 3.6.3 Harvest strategy for South Pacific albacore .................................................................................... 56 3.6.4 South Pacific albacore stock status ................................................................................................. 57 3.6.5 South Pacific albacore: Stock status projections ............................................................................ 60 3.6.6 South Pacific albacore: Information ............................................................................................... 60 3.6.7 South Pacific albacore: Stock assessment ...................................................................................... 62 3.7 Principle One: North Pacific Albacore Tuna .......................................................................... 63 3.7.1 Pacific albacore: Stock definition and biology ................................................................................ 63 3.7.2 Harvest strategy for North Pacific albacore .................................................................................... 63 3.7.3 North Pacific albacore: Stock status ............................................................................................... 64 3.7.4 North Pacific albacore: stock status projections............................................................................. 67 3.7.5 North Pacific albacore: Information ............................................................................................... 69 3.7.6 North Pacific albacore: Stock assessment ...................................................................................... 71 3.8 Principle Two: Ecosystem Background ................................................................................. 74 3.8.1 Designation of species under Principle 2 ........................................................................................ 74 3.8.2 Primary and Secondary species ...................................................................................................... 75 3.8.3 Bait species ..................................................................................................................................... 88 3.8.4 ETP species ...................................................................................................................................... 93 3.8.5 Cumulative impacts ...................................................................................................................... 127 3.8.6 Habitats ......................................................................................................................................... 130 3.8.7 Ecosystems.................................................................................................................................... 131 3.9 Principle Three: Management System Background