Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission

The Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) Tuna Fishery Yearbook, which is produced for the WCPFC by the Secretariat of the Pacific Community, presents annual catch estimates in the WCPFC Statistical Area from 1950 to 2011.

The tables of catch statistics cover the main commercial tuna and billfish species caught in the region: albacore (Thunnus alalunga), bigeye (Thunnus obesus), skipjack (Katsuwonus pelamis), yellowfin (Thunnus albacares), black marlin (Makaira indica), blue marlin (Makaira nigricans), striped marlin (Tetrapturus audax) and swordfish (Xiphias gladius).

The WCFPC, through their member countries, are now obliged to compile estimates of key shark species, some of which are now covered in the longline fleet tables: blue shark (Prionace glauca), silky shark (Carcharhinus falciformis), oceanic whitetip shark (Carcharhinus longimanus) and mako sharks (Isurus spp.). Catches of other species are not covered explicitly, and discards are not considered.
The main industrial fishing methods employed in the WCPFC region include longline, pole-and-line, purse seine and troll. The domestic fisheries of Indonesia and the Philippines employ several other methods. Driftnet fishing for albacore in the South Pacific Ocean ceased in 1991.

Statistical tables covering individual fleets are followed by tables summarising the numbers of vessels and catches by species and gear type in the WCPFC Statistical Area. Tables summarising the catch by species in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean (WCPO) and the Eastern Pacific Ocean (EPO), and global catches, are also presented.

For the purse-seine fishery, recent studies using observer data (e.g. Lawson, 2007, Lawson, 2010, Lawson, 2012, Hampton and Williams, 2011) show that the logsheet-reported catch, mainly for associated sets, should contain higher quantities of yellowfin and bigeye tuna that have been misreported as skipjack tuna. Purse-seine catch estimates that have been adjusted with species compositions determined from observer grab samples corrected for size selectivity bias (see Lawson, 2010 and Lawson, 2012) are presented herein as the best available WCFPC purse-seine catch estimates for skipjack, yellowfin and bigeye tuna. All composite tables and figures referring to purse-seine species catch are consistent with these estimates. The estimates of purse seine catch by species may differ from the original estimates provided by WCPFC member countries for their fleets, but total purse seine catch will not differ. The purse seine species catch estimates are produced from statistical models and will therefore change from year to year as more data become available. Purse-seine species catches that have been estimated appear in grey, italic font.

The tables of annual catch estimates for individual fleets cover those years during which the fleet is known to have fished; the lack of recent years in a table implies that the fleet has ceased fishing. The tables of annual catch statistics for individual fleets are accompanied by histograms showing annual catches. Maps of catches taken by individual fleets have been omitted to avoid potential non-compliance with the WCPFC’s rule that public domain data cover a minimum of three vessels.

The sources of the estimates are available from the SPC Oceanic Fisheries Programme. 

Last updated: 09 Nov 2012

WCPFC Tuna Fishery Yearbook, 2011 ( 2.64 MB)

WCPFC Tuna Fishery Yearbook 2011 - (Excel files - 170Kb) ( 176.86 KB)