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Neritic tuna is one of the major components in the coastal and offshore fisheries catch in Sri Lanka. This group mainly consists of Auxis thazard (frigate tuna), Auxis rochei (bullet tuna), Euthynnus affinis (kawakawa) and Scomberomorus commerson (narrow- barred Spanish mackerel). This study attempts to understand the status of neritic tuna fishery in Sri Lankan waters with comparing the status in last two decades especially referencing to years 1997, 2007 and 2017. The data for this audit was obtained from the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) database. The relative contribution of the neritic tuna catch in the total production of tuna and tuna like species was markedly reduced from about 20% in 1997 to 4% in 2017. The percentage representation of the Frigate tuna catch in neritic tuna production showed a considerable decline from 42% in 1997 to 28% in 2017while showing a remarkable declining not only the frigate tuna annual catch but also total neritic tuna annual catch in Sri Lanka. The percentage of the immature fish in the frigate tuna catch also exhibits an increment form about 5.8% in 1997 to 18.4% in 2017. The declining catch and inclining trend in immature percentage could probably be attributed to increased fishing pressure on the frigate tuna stock in the Indian Ocean region. Thus, the study emphasizes the importance of carrying out periodical stock assessments and research studies especially focusing to biological and fisheries aspects of neritic tuna species in order to ascertain a sustainable fishery for neritic tuna species in the Indian Ocean.
