Status of Albacore Fishing by Malaysian Tuna Longliners in the Southwest of Indian Ocean

Malaysian tuna fisheries began with tropical tuna fishing in 2005 to 2011. In 2012, Malaysia tuna longline vessels shifted their operation from tropical tuna to albacore tuna fishing. A total of 5 tuna longline fishing vessels and 1 carrier are currently operating under Malaysian flag and they mainly operated in the southwest of Indian Ocean. The range of areas covered by the fishing operation of the Malaysia tuna longliners extended from 10° S in the north to 39° S toward the south and longitude from 40°E to 70°E. This paper was based on the data extracted from fishing logbooks which were sent to Department of Fisheries Malaysia. In 2017, the total catch of albacore increased significantly by 17% to 1,607 tons from 1,330 tons in 2016. Catches of albacore tuna by Malaysian tuna fishing vessels ranged from 2.74 – 277.59 tons with the average of 96.94 ± 64.38 tons. The average monthly catches for 5 years showed that there were two peaks seasons for albacore fishing; from May – August and October – January