TUNA POLE

Albacore (Thunnus alalunga) is predominantly a temperate water tuna. It is a pelagic species and, juvenile albacore of less than 90 centimetres in length typically form large schools near the surface of the water. Adult albacore occur much lower down in the water column and do not form large schools. Therefore, they are unavailable to the surface gear used by the poling fleet. In the Atlantic Ocean there are two stocks of albacore; the northern stock is separated from the southern stock at approximately 5?N. Albacore spawn in the western Atlantic in both hemispheres.

Albacore have a wide geographic distribution, occurring in all the major ocean basins. The South African poling fleet only operates along the west coast of South Africa, targeting the southern Atlantic albacore stock. Stocks of Indian Ocean albacore, which occur along the east coast of South Africa, are considerably less abundant. Large quantities of southern albacore are also caught off the coasts of Namibia, Brazil and Argentina. Albacore are only caught in South African waters between October and June and therefore the tuna pole fishery is seasonal. The availability of the resource to the fishery is further determined by environmental conditions, which in some years concentrate fish and bring them closer to shore.

Due to its occurrence on the high seas, albacore is caught by many nations. The management of this species is the responsibility of regional fisheries management organisations ("RFMOs"), such as the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas ("ICCAT") and the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission ("IOTC"). The management of the stocks by the RFMOs are effected through stock assessments, the setting of Total Allowable Catches ("TACs"), the allocation of country qutoas and the development of compliance and control measures.

The tuna pole fishery uses surface gear to target schooling juvenile albacore in the southeast Atlantic, largely for export to canning markets. Other tuna species that are landed include yellowfin and bigeye tuna, but these species make up less than five percent of the annual catch. However, some right-holders have now started targeting these tunas for sale on the sashimi markets in Europe, UK, USA and Japan.

Southern Atlantic albacore has been commercially fished since the 1950's. Total landings had fluctuated around 24 000 tons between 1965 and 1985. Thereafter landings increased to approximately 30 000 tons.

The fishing nations that target albacore in the south Atlantic are Chinese Taipei (averaging 16 800 tons between 1998 and 2002), South Africa (6 200 tons), Brazil (4 000 tons) and Namibia (2 300 tons). The South Atlantic albacore stock is not over-exploited, despite catches exceeding the global TAC for several years.

As ICCAT has not issued country allocations for the South Atlantic albacore stock, the South African fishery is managed by the Department through a total applied effort ("TAE") of 200 vessels carrying a maximum of 3 600 crew.

Over the years, two types of vessels have emerged in this fishery. The first were large vessels with onboard freezers, capable of spending substantial periods at sea with a crew of 20 or more. The second type were smaller vessels that carried less than 20 crew, spending no more than five days at sea.

The fishery is not capital intensive, but locating and fishing for tuna using the pole method requires a skilled crew.

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