REGIONAL TUNA TAGGING PROJECT - INDIAN OCEAN (RTTP-IO)

In collaboration with The Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (Technical Supervisor), Indian Ocean Commission (Contracting Authority) and European Union (Funding body)

Concerted fishing for the three species of tropical oceanic tunas (Skipjack, Yellowfin and Bigeye) has been conducted in the Indian Ocean using traditional methods for over 1,000 years. In 1952, the first industrialized longline fisheries entered the Indian Ocean, followed in the mid-1980s by purse seiners. Over the last 25 years catches have increased tenfold and now exceed 700,000 tonnes per annum to the value of more than 2 billion USD (estimated at landing). This makes the Indian Ocean tuna fishery one of the largest and most valuable tuna fisheries in the world. In the regional context, the tuna fisheries of the coastal nations and in particular those of small island developing nations, are crucial to the welfare of their populations.

The overall objective is to reinforce regional management capacity, leading to a sustainable exploitation of tuna resources. Specifically, this involves reinforcing scientific knowledge of tropical tuna stocks, including the rate of exploitation, by obtaining the crucial model parameters necessary for stock assessment. RTTP-IO is expected to achieve:

• The tagging of a critical mass of fishes (minimum 80,000)

• A significant percentage of tag recovery

• The processing and interpretation of the recovered data and the design of scientific models for tuna stock assessment

• The reinforcement of the capacity of Regional Fisheries organizations and participating institutions in stock assessment and management

During the course of the tagging programme, large numbers of tuna will be captured and released alive after a small plastic tag has been attached to their bodies. The tuna will be tagged just behind the second dorsal fin. Each tag is 11 to 15cm long, and bears a unique number that identifies the fish and IOTC's contact details.

Artisanal and industrial fishers are expected to eventually recapture some of these tagged fish and the information from these recovered fish will allow scientists to better understand their biology and behaviour and ultimately better assess the status of the stocks. This in turn will greatly improve the certainty of information available for management decisions.

C3 is National Focal Point for RTTP-IO in both the Comoros and Mauritius. 

Regional Tuna Tagging Project - Indian Ocean

Right: Tuna tagging (Photos and text: RTTP-IO)