Pacific Bluefin Tuna Commercial Harvest Status
Legal inseason actions under the final rule on domestic implementation of Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC) Resolutions.
On January 5, 2021, NOAA Fisheries published a proposed rule (86 FR 279) regarding domestic implementation of Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC) Resolution C-20-02 (Measures for the Conservation and Management of Pacific Bluefin Tuna in the Eastern Pacific Ocean, 2021). The proposed rule includes catch limits that would apply to U.S. commercial vessels that fish for Pacific bluefin tuna in the eastern Pacific Ocean during 2021. The proposed rule would implement a 425 metric ton (mt) catch limit for 2021. Additionally, NOAA Fisheries would impose an initial trip limit of 20 mt. If cumulative catch reaches certain amounts depending on the quarter of the year, NOAA Fisheries would impose an intermediate 15 mt trip limit, and a low 2 mt trip limit through the end of the year, or until the annual catch limit is met and the fishery is closed, as follows:
- January-March: If cumulative catch reaches 250 mt, then the trip limit is reduced to 15 mt; and if cumulative catch reaches 325 mt, then the trip limit is reduced to 2 mt for the remainder of the year or until the annual catch limit is met and the fishery is closed.
- April-June: If cumulative catch reaches 275 mt, then the trip limit is reduced to 15 mt; and if cumulative catch reaches 350 mt, then the trip limit is reduced to 2 mt for the remainder of the year or until the annual catch limit is met and the fishery is closed.
- July-September: If cumulative catch reaches 300 mt, then the trip limit is reduced to 15 mt; and if cumulative catch reaches 375 mt, then the trip limit is reduced 2 mt for the remainder of the year or until the annual catch limit is met and the fishery is closed.
- October-December: If cumulative catch reaches 325 mt, then the trip limit is reduced to 15 mt; and if cumulative catch reaches 375 mt, then the trip limit is reduced to 2 mt for the remainder of the year or until the annual catch limit is met and the fishery is closed.
The proposed rule would also require fish buyers to submit, within 24 hours of landing, electronic landings receipts with Pacific bluefin tuna landings in California ports using the E-tix system.
For more information, including how to submit a comment, go to www.regulations.gov and search for the docket “NOAA-NMFS-2020-0163”. The comment period for this proposed rule ends on February 4, 2021.
Commercial harvest of Pacific bluefin tuna in the IATTC Convention Area in metric tons (mt).
| Year | Regulations | Commission-wide commercial limit | Commission-wide commercial catch in the IATTC Convention Area to date |
U.S. commercial catch limit | U.S. commercial catch to date** |
| 2021 | 86 FR 279 (proposed) |
3,925 mt | --- | 425 mt | --- |
| 2020 | 85 FR 6101 | 6,147 mt for 2019, and 2020, combined* | 3,493 mt | 356 mt | 225 mt |
| 2019 | 84 FR 18409 | 6,147 mt for 2019 and 2020, combined* | 2,524 mt | 425 mt | 275 mt |
| 2018 | 83 FR 13203 | 6,600 mt for 2017 and 2018, combined | 2,548 mt | 114 mt | 66 mt |
| 2017 | 82 FR 18704 82 FR 40720 |
6,600 mt for 2017 and 2018, combined | 4,130 mt | 425 mt | 487 mt Limit determined to be exceeded |
| 2016 | 81 FR 2110 | 6,600 mt for 2015 and 2016, combined | 3,065 mt | 425 mt | 356 mt |
| 2015 | 80 FR 38986 | 3,180 mt | 425 mt | 98 mt | |
| 2014 | 79 FR 28448 79 FR 53631 79 FR 68133 |
5,000 mt |
Limit determined to be reached + |
500 mt*** | 408 mt caught as of November 13, 2014 |
| 2013 | 78 FR 33240 | 3,295 mt**** | Limit determined to be reached in July | 500 mt** | 11 mt caught |
* Accounts for over-harvest by Mexico (483 mt) or under-harvest by the United States (30 mt) from 2017-2018 catch limit. Resolution C-18-02 specifies that under-harvest up to 5 percent of the previous biennial, or two-year, limit may added to the current biennial limit.
** Catch data is presented in a manner consistent with data confidentiality standards under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act.
*** The U.S. catch limit is notwithstanding the Commission-wide limit.
**** IATTC Resolution C-12-09 established a Commission-wide limit of 10,000 mt for 2012 and 2013. NOAA Fisheries implemented the resolution in 2013 when 3,295 mt of the Commission-wide limit remained after the IATTC Director determined that 6,705 mt had been caught by IATTC Members and Cooperating non-members in 2012.
NOTE: The source for 2013-2019 catch data is the International Scientific Committee for Tuna and Tuna-like Species in the North Pacific Ocean. 2020 and 2021 catch data are preliminary and are provided by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and Pacific Fisheries Information Network. Monthly catch reports for IATTC CPCs are available on the IATTC website.
The above information is current as of January 5, 2021.
For more information, contact Celia Barroso at Celia.Barroso@noaa.gov or (562) 432-1850.
