Bluefin: Assessment bodes well for recovery

GLOUCESTER, MA — Armed with reliable catch data and an enhanced understanding of bluefin biology, scientists conducted a new Atlantic bluefin tuna stock assessment this fall.  And they concluded there’s a good chance stock-rebuilding targets for both sides of the Atlantic will be achieved by 2022 under current — or even slightly higher — harvest levels.
This is the third consecutive year that the Standing Committee on Research and Statistics (SCRS) of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) has documented improvements in Atlantic bluefin stocks.  The committee largely attributed the positive outcome to effective implementation of regulations to reduce fishing mortality rates in the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea through monitoring and enforcement controls.
As CFN was going to press in mid-November, delegations from countries around the world were gathered in Morocco for the annual ICCAT meeting.  Bluefin tuna management was a central agenda item.

Read the rest and much, much more in the December issue of Commercial Fisheries News. Read online immediately and download for future reference.

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