Review of Yellowfin Tuna Fisheries in the Maldives

Yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares), in the Maldives, is exploited by the four gears that target tunas; pole and line, handline, longline and trolling. It is the second most important species after skipjack tuna (Katsuwonus pelamis). Average catch for the recent 5 years, from all gears were around 50,000 t and contributed between 35 and 43 percent of all tunas landed (SKJ, YFT, BET, FRI, KAW). Pole and line, which used to be the most important gear for yellowfin tunas, exploit surface swimming juveniles, below ~70 cm FL, with 80% of catch between 38 and 63 cm FL. Handline yellowfin tuna fishery lands surface swimming sub adults and adults above ~80 cm FL, with 80% of the catch between 99 and 155 cm FL. The longline fishery also lands similar sized fish (80-168 cm). The historically predominant troll fishery catches tunas from the atoll lagoons and outer atoll reefs. A seasonal troll fishery targeting yellowfin tuna existed in the 1990’s. Nominal catch for PL shows the catches to be fluctuating around a mean of 14,500 t, with a declining contribution to total YFT catch. Handline fishery shows clear increasing trend in catch from 189 t to 30,500 t. In terms of catch, handline gear has become the most important for yellowfin tuna in the Maldives. Cessation of licensing foreign or joint venture longliners in 2010 to allow for a fully local fleet, clearly disrupted the catch trend. Landings from the longline fleet remained between 1,100 and 3,100 t prior to cessation of foreign licensing, while the latter period showed catches below 1,200 t. As for marine species of special interest, Maldives implements a number of measures to protect such species. While pole and line, handline and troll fisheries have minimal interactions with endangered, threatened and protected species and have virtually zero bycatch and discards, longline, undoubtedly has bycatch, most important being sharks. However, the ban on shark fishery prohibits sale or use of shark by-catch and are therefore released or discarded at sea. Additionally, longline fishery regulation mandates vessels to implement seabird mitigation measures in adherence to relevant IOTC Resolutions. The Ministry of Fisheries and Agriculture, and the Marine Research Centre implements several programs to improve fisheries data, including those to improve logbook reporting, widen the size sampling program, implement the vessel monitoring system and also efforts to better manage the Maldives marine fisheries.