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South Africa has two commercial fishing sectors that target tuna – the Large Pelagic Longline and the Tuna Pole-Line (baitboat) sectors. The latter sector mainly targets (Thunnus alalunga) and to a lesser degree yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares) and rarely operates in the IOTC Area of Competence. The Large Pelagic Longline sector comprises two fleets with different histories: The South African-flagged Large Pelagic Longline vessels that traditionally used swordfish (Xiphias gladius) targeting methods, and the Japanese-flagged vessels that operate under joint-ventures and fish for South African Rights Holders. The Japanese-flagged vessels typically target tropical tunas and southern bluefin tuna (Thunnus maccoyii) with their effort focused in the Indian Ocean. In 2019, a total of 23 longline vessels were active in the IOTC area of competence, which is less than in 2018 (25). Effort increased marginally - the number of hooks set in 2019 was 1 355 677, compared to 1 325 446 in 2018. Catches increased for albacore (320%), swordfish (83%), yellowfin tuna (17%), bigeye tuna (12%) and southern bluefin tuna (10%). For the same period, significant decreases in catch were observed for both shark species: blue shark (62%) and shortfin mako shark (68%). This is a result of stricter National permit conditions to avoid excess shark bycatch. A single Tuna Pole-Line trip occurred in the Indian Ocean in 2019 which caught 0.25 tons of albacore in 12 hours of fishing. Observer coverage exceeded IOTC requirements as 59% of hooks set (804 121 hooks) in the IOTC area of competence in 2019 were observed.
