Basic HTML Version
International Journal of Marine Science 2013, Vol.3, No.24, 187-192
http://ijms.sophiapublisher.com
190
Asia, Japan, UK and Middle East. Tuna capture from
Indian seas has fallen by more than 25% in the last one
year pushing down most tuna long-liners into great loss
(Pillai, 2010).
The
Indian Ocean has had a notable fishery of tuna
exploitation. There have been calls for evaluating and
improving approaches to manage tuna resources as
stocks have undergone sequential depletion, with
some dramatic instances of stock declines. The need
for more holistic ecosystem-based fisheries management
to manage tuna resource exploitations has been
increasingly recognized as part of these calls, along
with the recognition that there are broader issues to
consider when managing a fishery. In Indian EEZ,
while the near-shore waters up to 50 m depth are fully
exploited, the waters beyond this depth are still
believed to be relatively unexploited. Though India is
blessed with rich coastal and oceanic tuna resources,
unlike the coastal tuna fishery, there is no organized
fishery for oceanic tunas. However, the fishery is also
facing serious issues mainly due to declining yields.
Deployments of drift gillnet, longline and high sea
purse seine fishing fleet for the exploitation of oceanic
tunas from Indian seas is discussed and suggestions
for the sustainable development and management of
the oceanic tuna fishery are given below.
3.4 Major issues on tuna fishery in Indian Ocean
The evolution of tuna longline fisheries in all oceans
has changed the fishing strategies as different species
have targeted. These tactic increases of longliners,
simultaneously make the stock seem bigger but
actually damaging the fish’s breeding capacity
(Botsford et al., 1997). The present study made an
attempt to list down the main fishery management
issues in the Indian Ocean as well as EEZ of India.
These include (i) lack of reliable information on the
status of stock position of tunas, (ii) lack of
information on tuna migration, (iii) Illegal,
Unregulated and Unreported fishing (IUU) activities
which are one of the biggest threats to Indian Ocean
tuna resources and ecosystem, (iv) Bycatches which is
a very complex issue in the fishery and is of great
concern to the government and stakeholders, (v)
lack of real catch-statistical data for Indian Ocean
countries, (vi) The El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO)
phenomenon which is considered to be the main cause
for inter annual climatic variability around the globe.
The lack of proper studies on oceanographic
environmental parameters variability during extreme
climatic events (El Nino and La Nina) and its
relationship with tuna catch in Indian Ocean, (vii)
IOTC has implemented a number of measures to
improve compliance with conservation measures.
However, many of the nations do not provide the
information needed to monitor compliance.
3.5 Major issues on tuna fishery in EEZ of India
(i) IUU activities are one of the biggest threats to
Indian tuna fishery resources and ecosystem, (ii) lack
of trained man power in manning tuna longliners and
high sea purseiners, (iii) Investors are reluctant to
invest in high sea tuna fishing as they are still not
convinced whether it is a profitable venture, (iv) lack
of geo-referenced tuna catch data and migratory
patterns to effective conservation and management of
tuna and tuna like fish population, (v) lack of studies
on oceanographic environmental parameters variability
during extreme climatic events and its relationship
with tuna catch, (vi) permitting foreign tuna fishing
vessels to operate in the Indian EEZ under the Letter
of Permit (LOP) (vii) Indian fisherman are not
familiar with the onboard modern post-harvest
handling procedures for high priced
Sashimi
grade
tuna, (viii) India yet to develop satellite based
Potential Fishing Zone (PFZ) advisories for oceanic
tuna to help Indian tuna vessel operators to save
energy and scouting time, (ix) Tuna fishing around
Lakshadweep is still a traditional practice of the
Islanders. The island fishermen are resisting the entry
of mainland fisherman in their waters, (x) Insufficient
financial support for the introduction of deep sea
fishing vessels in Indian EEZ, (xi) No proper deep sea
fishing policy/ guidelines. We have presented major
issues responsible for declines in many coastal and
oceanic tunas over a short period. This present study
indicates that tuna should be given due conservation
attention equal to that given to other threatened large
marine predators.
4 Conservation and Management
Many of the worlds tuna fish population are overexploited,
and the ecosystems that sustain them are degraded
(IOTC, 2010). As fishing pressure for tuna increases
on a global scale, management and conservation
measures are essential if the populations of tunas are
to remain at desired levels of abundance. However,