Thai Tonggol Fishery Improvement Project Archive Date: January 2016 Against a background of reducing fishing opportunities and reform of the Thai fisheries management legislation, the Thai Tonggol FIP is temporarily suspended while a potential industry coalition considers assuming ownership of the project. ! Species: tonggol tuna (Thunnus tonggol) FIP Scope/Scale: This FIP focuses on the Thai tonggol/longtail tuna (Thunnus tonggol) caught by tuna purse seiners operating from the east and west coasts of Thailand in the Gulf of Thailand and Andaman Sea. It is part of a wider project that is seeking better management of this species in Asia and also covers labor issues in the fishing industry, with a focus on Thailand but with a broader interest. Location: FIP Participants: • Orkla Foods Sweden – project sponsor • Thai Union Manufacturing Co. • Valcorp Fine Foods – project sponsor • Sea Value • Tropical Canning • Thai Tuna Industry Association Other Partners/Stakeholders: Thailand Department of Fisheries South East Asia Fisheries Development Centre (SEAFDEC) Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management Sustainability Information: Limited information is available on the status of tonggol stocks or on the number of stocks in either the Indian Ocean or the Western Pacific Ocean. The Neritic Tuna Working Group of the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission has produced a preliminary assessment of the situation in the Indian Ocean. This assessment assumes one stock. A preliminary DNA analysis of fish from some parts of the South China Sea (an activity of the FIP) suggests some weak separation of populations of fish between the north and south, and further work is underway. In June 2014, the Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center (SEAFDEC), with support from the SEAFDEC-Sweden Project, has designed (and its member countries have endorsed) a Regional Plan of Action (RPOA) for neritic tuna (including tonggol) for the SE Asian countries, including the development of an ongoing stock assessment. It is not expected to be concluded before 2019. The main fishing method used by the Thai fleet targeting tonggol is the purse seine. Available data show that little bycatch is taken. Other fisheries, not targeting tonggol but operating in Thai waters, report catches of juvenile tonggol. Outside Thai waters, in Indonesia, gillnets are used, but their bycatch profile is unknown. Date Publicly Announced: March 2011 FIP Stage: 4, FIP is delivering improvement in policies or practices • The Thai Department of Fisheries (DoF) is completing a management plan for the Thai tonggol fishery, which will be public before May 2015. • The Thai Tuna Industry Association (TTIA) is implementing (during 2015) a VMS system on all the Thai vessels targeting tonggol tuna. • SEAFDEC has designed a RPOA for the improvement of the neritic tuna fisheries in the SE Asia region (the plan has been endorsed by all SEAFDEC member states). Current Improvement Recommendations: In 2012, the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) conducted a stock reduction analysis on longtail tuna and the biomass appears healthy. This preliminary assessment included catch and effort data and indicates that fishing mortality rates have exceeded the maximum sustainable yield (MSY) in recent years. The biomass of longtail appears to be above MSY levels. The current status of longtail is that they are not overfished but are subject to overfishing (IOTC 2013). Overall effort in the Indian Ocean is unknown, but a catch per unit effort series for Thailand’s small purse seine and gillnet fisheries is available. Although information on catches is available, it is generally thought to be underestimated; therefore, a precautionary approach is recommended. Thailand does have some management measures in place that pertain to longtail fisheries. However, there are severe issues with the current catch estimates used in the stock assessment. Fishing mortality levels seem currently to be too high. Information on bycatch is lacking in this fishery (even if it seems to be low in the purse seine fishery and is unknown at the regional level) and no bycatch mitigation measures are in place. Therefore, improvement recommendations include: Recommendations to Catchers and Regulators 1. Ensure Thailand complies with all Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) conservation and management measures (CMMs), including measures aimed at both target and incidental market and non-market species, and all other obligations. Member countries must make information on monitoring and compliance with all IOTC obligations publicly available, including measures being taken to address non-compliance issues identified by the Compliance Committee. 2. Encourage continued work with the Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center (SEAFDEC) in the development and implementation of the Regional Plan of Action on Sustainable Utilization of Neritic Tunas (RPOA-Neritic Tuna). Promote the adoption of a management plan aimed specifically at neritic tuna species in Thailand. In the interim, current management measures and precautionary ones should be strengthened. 3. Support the current SIDA/Orkla longtail tuna fishery improvement project in Thailand and similar recommendations (see table below). Recommendations to Retailers and Supply Chain 1. Ask the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) and the relevant member countries to adopt precautionary and ecosystem-based management measures, including formal reference points, harvest control rules, and increased observer coverage for the tonggol fisheries in their jurisdictional waters. 2. Require that your suppliers source only from fisheries and vessels that comply with all IOTC conservation and management measures (CMMs), and request that IOTC make information on compliance by members and cooperating non-members publicly available. An example of how this might be achieved is the adoption of a control document that ensures recording and reporting interactions, and prohibition on retaining thresher and oceanic whitetip sharks. 3. Source from vessels registered on the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF) Proactive Vessel Register (PVR) and in full compliance with all measures relevant to their gear type as demonstrated by annual independent audit reports that are made publicly available. Background: As an inshore tuna, tonggol is a source of protein for many coastal communities in the Middle East and Asia. Annual reported catches have grown over the past 30 years from less than 20,000 tonnes to more than 250,000 tonnes. However, including unreported nearshore tonggol catches from small-scale fishers would likely raise the total catch amounts significantly. The global distribution of tonggol is as follows: Source: www.fishbase.us The status of tonggol stocks is unknown and while the species has many attributes that make it robust to fishing pressure, there is little doubt that catches cannot continue to grow indefinitely. Improving an understanding of the status of tonggol is timely, as there is growing interest in this species in some export markets. Fishing is an important source of income and food for many coastal peoples in Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines. In addition, many immigrants, mainly from Myanmar and Cambodia, rely on the Thai fishing and tuna canning industries as important sources of income for themselves as well as for their families living in their home countries. Reported landings grew from less than 20,000 tonnes per year prior to the 1980s to about 130,000 tonnes in the late 1990s and up to 159,000 tonnes in 2012. Reported catches from the Gulf of Thailand are much larger than those from the Andaman Sea. 1. Laem Ngop, Trat Province 12. Muang, Ranong Province 2. Thamai, Chanthaburi Province 13. Kuraburi, Phang-nga Province 3. Muang, Rayong Province 14. Takuapa, Phang-nga Province 4. Sattahip, Chonburi Province 15. Taimuang, Phang-nga Province 5. Sriracha, Chonburi P 16. Muang, Phuket Province 6. Pak Nam, Samutprakan P 17. Muang, Krabi Province 7. Muang, Samutsakhon Prov 18. Kantang, Trang Province 8. Cha-Um, Phetchaburi Provi 19. Palian, Trang Province 9. Pranburi, Prachuap Khiri Khan Province 20. La-nga, Satun Province 10. Muang, Songkhla Province 21. Muang, Satun Province 11. Muang, Pattani Province The beginning of the FIP The FIP arose out of discussions with Sweden-based seafood business Abba Seafood (currently Orkla), which has been buying tonggol from Thailand for more than 30 years. Abba expressed an interest in creating a project aimed at better understanding the tonggol resources upon which their business depends and, with the support of local stakeholders, encouraging those that have management responsibility to improve those areas requiring management intervention. A quick review of the issues surrounding tonggol revealed that catches have grown over the past few decades (159,000 tonnes by 2012), stock status information is non-existent, and demand has increased due to some suppliers looking for alternatives to yellowfin tuna. FIP Goal and Objectives: The FIP goal is to ensure the long-term sustainability of tonggol supplies to southern Thailand, as the fundamental basis for preventing poverty and providing the basis for future investments in wealth-generating activities. Objective: • To ensure that tonggol resources are understood and management is robust. • To identify and progress options for improving the livelihoods of those that fish for tonggol in the project area. Progress Update: 2008 – 2009 Background discussions began in 2008 and resulted