It can be more accurately described as a slow decline, which has now quietly slipped below the waves into more treacherous territory,” Cage warned. Removal of these young fish before they are able to reproduce undercuts the resilience and resistance of the stock against overfishing. One of the key points… has been the harvest of juvenile yellowfin tuna, especially around Fish Aggregation Devices (FADs). “Both fishing overcapacity and climate change are known to negatively affect the regenerative ability of fish stocks. It isn’t just overfishing that is threatening fish stocks, although a reduction in catch is the only feasible route to save them. “This is a problem which has been brewing for some time - yellowfin tuna in the Indian Ocean is overfished… and has been designated as such since 2015 by the IOTC,” Archie Cage, Planet Tracker Research Associate, told FoodNavigator. But for the species to remain viable, a 20% reduction in catch from 2014 levels is needed, according to the non-profit. In 2019, 424,226 tonnes of yellowfin was harvested in the Indian Ocean.
Forecasts from Planet Tracker predict that, if things carry on as they are, ‘collapse’ – defined as a 70% reduction in biomass over a decade – will take place by 2026.įound in the subtropical and tropical areas of the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans, yellowfin tuna accounts for almost 30% of the total catch for all tuna species. Stocks of yellowfin tuna in the Indian Ocean are on a knife-edge. Emulsifiers, stabilisers, hydrocolloids.Chocolate and confectionery ingredients.Carbohydrates and fibres (sugar, starches).