Review of size data and fish size for Indian Ocean albacore caught by Japanese longline fishery

Status of data collection and fish size was summarized for the size of albacore caught by Japanese longline fishery operating in the Indian Ocean. Size sampling of albacore is mainly conducted on board of commercial vessels by fishermen, by training vessels and by scientific observers. Annual number of fish sampled and main sampling area differed depending on periods. The fish mainly ranged between 60cm and 120cm FL. Information on sex is not available for most of the fish, but the proportion of male increased between around 100cm and 115cm. Fish size became smaller as latitude got higher and large difference was observed between north of and south of 30S. There was no clear difference of fish size by sampling method.