Statistics of the French purse seine fishing fleet targeting tropical tuna in the Indian Ocean (1981-2020)

This document presents an updated summary of the French purse seine fleet targeting tropical tunas in the Indian Ocean. The statistics cover the period 1981-2020 and specifically focus on the activity of the last year of the fishery. In 2020, a total of 13 French vessels operated in the western Indian Ocean including 10 purse seiners and 3 support vessels. The total capacity weighted by the months of activity for each vessel is 10626t. The total nominal effort in 2020 was of 1805 fishing days and 2414 sets with 1898 sets on floating objects and 516 on free schools. The total catch of the French component of the EU purse seine fleet of the Indian Ocean was 58149t, being composed of 42.2%, 52.6%, 4.5% and 0.8% of yellowfin tuna, skipjack tuna, bigeye tuna and other species respectively. The most noticeable change in 2020 was the decrease of 17.7% for the total of catches in comparison to 2019, respectively 58149t and 70622t. Remarkably, yellowfin tuna and skipjack tuna proportion of catches in 2020 for free swimming school returned to the proportion prevailing before 2018, after 2 years of a different fishing strategy targeting skipjack tuna on free swimming school.