Mexico Oaxaca artisanal skipjack and black skipjack tuna - handline

The artisanal skipjacks - handline FIP has been established by an alliance that includes the Punta Sacrificio cooperative, SmartFish Rescate de Valor AC, and Fondo Oaxaqueño for the Conservation of Nature (FOCN) with the participation of Comercializadora HealthyFish (buyer), Comité Oaxaqueño de Sanidad e Inocuidad Acuícola (COSIA),  federal fisheries authorities [Comisión Nacional de Acuacultura and Pesca (CONAPESCA), the Regional Center for Fisheries Research (CRIP) of Salina Cruz and the Servicio Nacional de Sanidad, Inocuidad and Calidad Agroalimentaria, (SENASICA), the state of Oaxaca agriculture and fisheries ministry (Secretaría de Desarrollo Agropecuario, Pesca and Acuacultura, (SEDAPA)], and the Municipality of San Pedro; and the academic institution, Technological Institutes of Salina Cruz and of Pochutla.

Tuna is one of Mexico´s, most important fisheries in terms of commercial value and volume, together with the shrimp and sardine fisheries (Hall et al., 1992). Tuna fisheries in Mexico are consolidated as one fishery denominated “túnidos”, whose management is driven mainly by the yellowfin and bigeye tunas (Thunnus albacares, Thunnus obesus) which are targeted by the industrial purse seiner fleet (CONAPESCA 2018. Skipjack tuna and black skipjack (Euthynnus lineatus and Katsuwonus pelamis) are considered associated species of this tuna fishery. Although Mexican legislation includes some long-term goals for K. pelamis, the skipjack fisheries lack a management strategy. The current status of the skipjack populations and the impact of the fishery on the habitat and associated species are unknown due to the lack of reliable data. The fishery does not have a harvest strategy or specific objectives.

For coastal communities in the southwestern state of Oaxaca, fishing is a very important source of income and of protein. Coastal Oaxaca has a regionally important small-scale handline tuna fishery which is centered in the municipality of San Pedro Pochutla (Ortega-García et al., 1996; DOF 2012; CIAT 2015). This fleet harvests skipjacks throughout the year. E. lineatus is probably the most abundant Scombridae species on the Oaxacan coast (Ramos-Carrillo et al., 2011) and Pochutla is the most important small-scale producer of skipjack at the national level (DOF 2012). Very limited value is added to harvests locally and as part of the FIP activities, the cooperatives will receive support to improve quality, add value, and transition to more formal market segments that compensate for their fishery management efforts. The goals of the FIP are to (i) generate information about the Oaxacan skipjacks fishery and its interactions with the ecosystem, in order to inform sustainable management measures and (ii) increase the benefits of the fishery to the local community.