Latest Tuna Fishery Yearbook (annual catch estimates up to 2011) now available online

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) andswordfish (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.