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| Marine Resource Fact Sheet |
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| | Data Ownership | | This document provided, maintained and owned by Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) , is part of IOTC Stock Status Reports data collection. |
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| Related observations | Locate in inventory | | | | Species: | | FAO Names: en - Albacore, fr - Germon, es - Atún blanco, ru - Тунец длинноперый |
Fishery IndicatorsProduction: Catch |
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| Geographic extent of Albacore - Indian Ocean Map tips - Click on
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| FAO Major Fishing Areas |
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| 51 | Indian Ocean, Western |
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| 57 | Indian Ocean, Eastern |
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| Main Descriptors | Considered a single stock: Yes Management unit: Yes
Reference year: 2017 |
| Considered a single stock: A group of individuals in a species occupying a well defined spatial range independent of other stocks of the same species. It can be affected by random dispersal movements and directed migrations due to seasonal or reproductive activity. |
| Spatial Scale: Spatial scale contains a standard term such as Global, Regional (e.g. for the whole Atlantic), sub-regional (e.g. for a part of the Atlantic), national, local (for sub-national levels). |
| Considered a management unit: An aquatic resource or fishery is declared as [Fishery] Management Unit if it is effectively the focus for the application of selected management methods and measures, within the broader framework of a management system. According to the FAO Glossary for Responsible Fishing, "a Fishery Management Unit (FMU) is a fishery or a portion of a fishery identified in a Fishery Management Plan (FMP) relevant to the FMP's management objectives." FMU's may be organised around fisheries biological, geographic, economic, technical, social or ecological dimensions , and the makeup and attribute of a fishery management unit depends mainly on the FMP's management objectives. |
| Jurisdictional distribution: Jurisdictional qualifier (e.g. "shared", "shared - highly migratory") of the aquatic resource related with its spatial distribution. |
| Environmental group: Classification of the aquatic resource according to the environmental group (e.g. pelagic invertebrate, or demersal fish) to which the species belong. |
| Reference Year: The Reference Year is the last year considered in the stock assessment and/or fishery status. |
| | | | | | Biological State and Trend Habitat and Biology Climatic zone: Temperate; Tropical. Horizontal distribution: Oceanic. Vertical distribution: Pelagic. Geographical Distribution Jurisdictional distribution: Highly migratory Geo References  | | Geographic extent of Albacore - Indian Ocean
| FAO Major Fishing Areas | 51: Indian Ocean, Western | | 57: Indian Ocean, Eastern |
| | | | | | Intersecting Major FAO areas and LME areas |
The following area codes have been found as intersecting the distribution of Albacore - Indian Ocean | FAO Major Fishing Areas | 51: Indian Ocean, Western | | 57: Indian Ocean, Eastern | | Large Marine Ecosystem Areas (LME) | 30: Agulhas Current | | 31: Somali Coastal Current | | 32: Arabian Sea | | 33: Red Sea | | 34: Bay of Bengal | | 38: Indonesian Sea | | 39: North Australian Shelf | | 42: Southeast Australian Shelf | | 43: Southwest Australian Shelf | | 44: West-Central Australian Shelf | | 45: Northwest Australian Shelf |
Resource Structure Considered a single stock: Yes In the Indian Ocean, there is probably only one southern stock, distributed from 5°N to 40°S, because there is no northern gyre. Exploitation Fishery Indicators | Type | Measure | Value | Unit | Time period |
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| Production | Catch | 3736 | tonnes | Average 1950 - 1959 | | Catch | 17347 | tonnes | Average 1960 - 1969 | | Catch | 17310 | tonnes | Average 1970 - 1979 | | Catch | 22417 | tonnes | Average 1980 - 1989 | | Catch | 30472 | tonnes | Average 1990 - 1999 | | Catch | 35339 | tonnes | Average 2000 - 2009 | | Catch | 37395 | tonnes | Average 2010 - 2019 | | Catch | 33902 | tonnes | 2011 | | Catch | 33355 | tonnes | 2012 | | Catch | 32691 | tonnes | 2013 | | Catch | 38414 | tonnes | 2014 | | Catch | 35628 | tonnes | 2015 | | Catch | 35761 | tonnes | 2016 | | Catch | 38932 | tonnes | 2017 | | Catch | 41615 | tonnes | 2018 | | Catch | 39517 | tonnes | 2019 | | Catch | 38083 | tonnes | 2020 |
Assessment A new stock assessment was carried out for albacore in 2019 to update the assessment undertaken in 2016. The stock assessment was carried out using Stock Synthesis III (SS3), a fully integrated model that is currently also used to provide scientific advice for the three tropical tunas stocks in the Indian Ocean. The model used in 2019 is based on the model developed in 2016 with a series of revisions that were noted during the WPTmT data preparatory meeting held in January 2019. There are some noticeable changes in spatial distribution of longline catches compared to the previous assessment data set, with historical catch shifted to equatorial regions (LL1 and LL2) from southern fisheries (LL3 and LL4). This is due to revisions in the historical catch data carried out since the last assessment. The stock status in relation to the Commission’s BMSY and FMSY target reference points indicates that the stock is not overfished but is subject to overfishing. Assessment Model Type: Age-structured Stock Synthesis III (SS3) Scientific Advice Although considerable uncertainty remains in the SS3 assessment conducted in 2019, particularly due to the conflicts in key data inputs, a precautionary approach to the management of albacore tuna should be applied. The K2SM indicates that catch reductions are required in order to prevent the biomass from declining to below MSY levels in the short term, due to the low recent recruitment levels. Although there is considerable uncertainty in the projections, current catches are exceeding the estimated MSY level. Management Management unit: Yes Source of information IOTC–SC23 2020. Report of the 23rd Session of the IOTC Scientific Committee. Seychelles, 7 – 11 December 2020. IOTC–2020–SC23–R[E]: 211pp.  https://www.iotc.org/sites/default/files/documents/2021/06/IOTC-2020-SC23-RE_Rev1.pdfBibliography All references to figures, tables and bibliography in the text are found within the source of information. |
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