National Oceanic Resource Management Authority
National Oceanic Resource Management Authority
the FSM EEZ is a large and active fishery, with a considerable portion of catch by the FSM flagged fleet coming within these waters. A number of other countries are also granted access to the FSM EEZ, both PNA and FFA member-flagged and foreign flagged. Figure 9 below highlights the percentage for each country permitted to fish within the FSM EEZ of the total catch for the reporting period, 2017-2019
Figures 10 and 11 show the total catch of the respective targeted tuna species – Skipjack, Yellowfin, Bigeye and Albacore – caught in FSM waters for the period 2017-2019. The total catch for all target tuna species was 553,887 metric tonnes. Of that figure, the vast majority – 97% – were caught by the Purse seine fleets. The remaining 3% were caught by Longline vessels permitted to fish within the FSM EEZ, with less than 1% caught by the Pole-and-Line vessels under the flag of Japan.
By flag, Japan captured 35% of the total for the period, with 193,984 metric tonnes (mt). This was followed by Chinese Taipei with 16% of the total (89,456 mt), and the FSM flagged fleet next with 78,809 mt, or 14%. Papua New Guinea (PNG), the United States (US) and Korea round out the top five fishing nations in terms of total catch, at 11% (62,803 mt), 10% (60,048 mt), and 9% (49,528 mt), respectively.
The remaining 4% of the total catch (19,322 mt) was caught by Kiribati (5,717 mt), Solomon Islands (4,793 mt), China (3,101 mt), Republic of the Marshall Islands (2,917 mt), Vanuatu (1,113 mt), Cook Islands (629 mt), Philippines (605 mt), Nauru (440 mt), and Palau (7 mt).
In sum, Distant Water Fishing Nations (DWFNs) accounted for 395,532 mt of fish caught, accounting for 71% of the total catch for the period. Of that figure, 98% of the total catch was from purse seine vessels (387,571 mt).
PNA and FFA flagged member fleets accounted for 158,418 mt of fish caught, accounting for the remaining 29% of the total for the reporting period. Again, the majority of that catch came from purse seine vessels, at 94%, with the remaining 16% caught by longline gear type vessels.
Finally, the data for species catch show that Skipjack was the predominant tuna species caught, accounting for 79% of total catch (439,697 mt). Yellowfin accounted for 100,660 mt of total catch, which was 18% of the total catch for the period. Bigeye tuna (13,194 mt) accounted for 2% of the catch, and Albacore at 1% with 399 mt.
In summary, the key tuna stocks of skipjack, yellowfin and bigeye are managed regionally and are considered healthy. Revenue has grown nearly four-fold since 2008 when the vessel day scheme (VDS) was implemented by the Parties to the Nauru Agreement (PNA). The growth of FSM’s fleet of purse seiners has grown significantly from six purse seiners in the early 2000’s to 20 purse seiners in 2018. The number of longliners has increased to 17.
The information above, as well as the graphics below present the three-year totals for the target catch species for both distant- flagged nations as well as PNA and FFA member flagged nations. Annex 1 to this report provides the raw data for each nation on an annual basis (2017,2018,2019) for each species and gear type.
