Longline

The fishery of the red snapper (Lutjanus campechanus) is one of the most important in terms of the scale resource in the Gulf of Mexico (GM) region, being the fifth species of fish with greater extraction in Campeche (González-de la Rosa, Sánchez and Arreguín-Sánchez, 1994; Government of the State of Campeche, 2015).

During the decade of the 70s, the annual catch of red snapper in this same region was represented in 93% by L. campechanus, without indications of reduction of the population stock (Anderson et al. 2015). During the 80s, González-de la Rosa et al. (1994), Monroy-García, Garduño-Andrade and Espinosa (2002), as well as, Monroy-García, Arceo and Ríos (2004) stated that the red snapper resource was under-exploited and the fishery growing in the north from Yucatan, showing an increase in annual catches from 1,800.0 to 4,500.0 tonnes.

In Mexico, there was a historical maximum in the catch of red snapper during 1993. In the period 1986-1996, 4,956.0 t of the average annual catch was recorded and from 2000 to 2015 a decrease of 39.0% was observed with 2,996.0 t annual average according to the CNP (2018).

Despite the commercial importance of this resource, there are currently no biomass studies in the region. Monroy García et al. (2002) estimated that this indicator decreased from 32,957.0 t in 1984 to 16,877.0 in 1999, which is 51.0%, indicating that this population does not show signs of recovery. They also calculated a maximum sustainable yield (RMS) of 1,271.0 t / year. Recording a capture of 3,083.0 t in 1992, and an average of 1,384.0 t in the period 1984-1999, which exceeds the CMS and therefore there is a strong decrease, reporting that landings in the Gulf of Mexico (GM) declined from 71.0 to 80.0% by 2013 (Anderson et al., 2015).

Currently, in the Mexican states, the use of this resource does not present specific regulations such as a fishing management plan, reproductive closures, quotas or minimum catch sizes, which has influenced the decline in populations and therefore the availability of this resource, considering that it is currently deteriorating in the states of Tamaulipas, Veracruz, Campeche and Yucatan and at the level of maximum sustainable use in Tabasco (Anderson et al., 2015; CNP, 2018), the development of strategies for fishery management for this species, which involve the fisheries, government, academic and civil society organizations in order to establish standards for responsible fishing.

Fukuichi Fishery Co., Ltd., a Japanese seafood processing company, conducted a MSC pre-assessment in 2018 for patner fisheries  which operate longline tuna in the Pacific Ocean, Pre-assessment report showed the fishery needs improvement on Principle 2, ecosystem impact, although Principle 1, target stock, and Principle 2, effective management, were conditional pass level. It was identified in the pre-assessment report that one of the weakness of the fishery was limited information/data about bycatch and bait. 

To address the issues and achieve and maintain MSC certification, Fukuichi Fishery launches a FIP which has 2 stages as below:

Stage 1 (Sep 2019 - Aug 2020): lanunch and implement FIP focusing on Principle 2 and partially on P1 and P3

Stage 2 (Sep 2020 - Mar 2022): conduct full-assessment and achive MSC certification

Scope of the fishery:

Target species: yellowfin, albacore and bigeye

Fishing method: pelagic long line

Definition: Japanese vessels with "pelagic long line tuna" license which operate in WCPO and land at Yaizu port

The Indonesian Longline Tuna FIP is being launched in November 2019. In the beginning, the FIP consisted of 17 Indonesian fishing and tuna processing companies, and the Indonesian Tuna Longline Association (ATLI). The number of participants is now 41 companies as is in January 2023, with 22 fishing companies and 19 tuna processing companies. The FIP intends to make national level change in policy and change in the water for the entire longline fishery. The FIP aims to improve fishing practices for Indonesian Longline fishers operating in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. The FIP also aims to meet the increasing demand for tuna caught by Longlines that operate in a responsible and sustainable manner by complying with the management measures issued by the National Government, and the IOTC and WCPFC. The scope of the fishery includes Yellowfin (Thunnus albacares), Bigeye (Thunnus obesus), Albacore (Thunnus alalunga) and Swordfish (Xiphias gladius) in the Indian Ocean, and Yellowfin and Bigeye in Western Central Pacific, within the Archipelagic Waters, ZEE and on the High Seas.

The Panama Republic is a relatively small country in surface (75,000 Km²), but has a substantial biological potential as seafood producing country thanks to its geographic location. Panama coasts add up to 2,988 kilometers, 1,700 in the Pacific and 1,288 in the Caribbean. The continental shelf has an extension of 250,900 Km² and the Exclusive Economic Zone reaches 319,188 Km².

The fishing activity in Panama occurs mostly in the Pacific Ocean with 95% of the total. The Gulf of Panama upwelling during the dry season is the basis for the relevant fishing activities in the Panamanian waters. The industrial fishing operates in the Pacific Ocean and focus on shrimp, small pelagics for reduction, tuna, dolphin fish and finfish species, being the export markets the main objective. Except for tuna and dolphin fish, the rest of the target species are in critical status.

At the end of last century, the tuna and dolphin fish longline fishery had a strong and important evolution in terms of income and generation of jobs. The export of fresh tuna and dolphin fish initially, and later the frozen presentations were the factors boosting the Panama exports. The growing demand and the seasonal abundance of these transnational resources, generated the fishing effort increment with the inclusion of all kind of vessels, including shrimp trawlers transformed and adapted to the target species and market.

According to the IATTC, the tuna and dolphin fish stocks in the Eastern Pacific Ocean are not overexploited but close to their maximum yield. However, the generalized lack of biological information of the target species and the fishery environmental impacts difficult the design and implementation of harvest strategies and harvest control rules which would allow to maintain the target species populations at healthy levels, mitigate the environmental impacts and satisfy the increasing social and environmental responsibility demands at the markets for the Panamanian production.

The fishery being assessed is the Marpesca Panama longline fishery. The fishery operates in the Eastern Pacific Ocean high seas and Panama EEZ and targets yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares) and mahi-mahi (Coryphaena hippurus). The fishery is regionally managed by the Inter American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC).