The status of the South Atlantic albacore stocks is based on the 2011 assessment using available data up to 2009. Complete information is found in the Report of the 2011 ICCAT Albacore Stock Assessment Session.

Albacore is a temperate tuna widely distributed throughout the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. On the basis of the biological information available for assessment purposes, the existence of three stocks is assumed: northern and southern Atlantic stocks (separated at 5ºN) and Mediterranean stock. However, some studies support the hypothesis that various sub populations of albacore exist in the North Atlantic and Mediterranean. Likewise, there is likely intermingling of Indian Ocean and South Atlantic immature albacore which needs further research.

Scientific studies on albacore stocks, in the North Atlantic, North Pacific and the Mediterranean, suggest that environmental variability may have a serious potential impact on albacore stocks, affecting fisheries by changing the fishing grounds, as well as productivity levels and potential MSY of the stocks. Those unexplored aspects might explain recently observed changes in fisheries, such as the lack of availability of the resource in the Bay of Biscay in recent years, or the apparent decline in the estimated recruitment which are demanding focussed research.

The expected life-span for albacore is around 15 years. While albacore is a temperate species, spawning occurs in tropical waters. Present available knowledge on habitat, distribution, spawning areas and maturity of Atlantic albacore is based on limited studies, mostly from past decades.

More information on albacore biology and ecology is published in the ICCAT Manual.

Albacore is a temperate tuna widely distributed throughout the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea.

On the basis of the biological information available for assessment purposes, the existence of three stocks is assumed: northern and southern Atlantic stocks (separated at 5ºN) and Mediterranean stock (Figure 1).

Figure 1: Geographic distribution of albacore accumulated catch by major gears and decade (1960-2009). Baitboat and troll catches are aggregated by 5ºx5º degrees in the Bay of Biscay thus the spatial representation of catch is concentrated on this area. (See Figure 2 for total catch values by gear). The symbols for the 1950s information (top left) are scaled to the maximum catch observed during the 1950s, whereas the remaining plots are scaled to the maximum catch observed from 1960 to 2009.

Description of fisheries

South Atlantic
The recent total annual South Atlantic albacore landings were largely attributed to four fisheries, namely the surface baitboat fleets of South Africa and Namibia, and the longline fleets of Brazil and Chinese Taipei (Table 1; Figure 2). The surface fleets are entirely albacore directed and mainly catch juvenile and sub-adult fish (70 cm to 90 cm FL). These surface fisheries operate seasonally, from October to May, when albacore are available in coastal waters. Brazilian longliners target albacore during the first and fourth quarters of the year, when an important concentration of adult fish (> 90 cm ) is observed off the northeast coast off Brazil, between 5ºS and 20ºS, being likely related to favorable environmental conditions for spawning, particularly of sea surface temperature. The longline Chinese Taipei fleet operates over a larger area and throughout the year, and consists of vessels that target albacore and vessels that take albacore as by-catch, in bigeye directed fishing operations. On average, the longline vessels catch larger albacore (60 cm to 120 cm FL) than the surface fleets.

Total reported albacore landings for 2010 were 18,900 t, a decrease of about 19% from 2009 catch. The Chinese Taipei preliminary catch in 2010 was 10,975 t, an increase of 2,297 t as compared to that of 2009. However, the Chinese Taipei catch in the last years has decreased mainly due to a decrease in fishing effort targeting albacore. Chinese Taipei longliners (including boats flagged in Belize and St. Vincent and the Grenadines) stopped fishing for Brazil in 2003, which resulted in albacore only being caught as by-catch in tropical tuna-directed longline fisheries. Albacore is only caught as by-catch in Brazilian tropical tuna-directed longline and baitboat fisheries. In 2010, the catch of the Brazilian fishery was 271 t, showing an increase of about 35% compared to 2009. The average catch of about 4,287 t during the period 2000-2003 was obtained by the Brazilian longline fleet when albacore was a target species. In 2009, Uruguay reported 685 t, which represent an extremely high increase from previous reported years. Reported catch in 2010 (24 t) was, however, on the order of magnitude of earlier years.

In 2010, the estimated South African catch was 4,147 t (mainly baitboat), which represented a decrease of about 18% from 2009. In addition, in 2010 the Namibian total reported catch was 1,320 t (mainly baitboat), a decrease of 74% from 2009. Japan takes albacore as by-catch using longline gear. In 2010, the Japanese longline preliminary catch was 1,007 t, an increase of 9% from 2009. The relatively large increase from 238 t in 2007 was due to an increase in fishing effort in the waters off southern Africa (20-40˚S).

The trend in mean weight from the 1975 to 2009 period is shown in Figure 3. Surface fleets showed a stable trend from 1981 onwards with an average of 12.7 kg and a maximum and minimum weight of 16.5 kg and 10 kg, respectively. While the trend in mean weight for longline fisheries showed an increase after 1996.

Figure 2: Total albacore catches reported to ICCAT (Task I) by gear for the southern Atlantic stock including TAC.

Figure 3: Mean weight trend by surface and longline fisheries in South Atlantic stock.

Effects of current regulations

In 2007 the Commission established a new TAC from 2008 to 2011 of 29,900 t [Rec. 07-03]. The Committee noted that reported catches in 2009 and 2010 were well below the TAC.