Review of the statistical data available for Indian Ocean Indo-Pacific sailfish

The document provides an overview of the consolidated knowledge about fisheries catching Indo-Pacific sailfish (Istiophorus platypterus) in the Indian Ocean since the early 1950s based on a range of data sets collected by Contracting Parties and Cooperating Non-Contracting Parties (CPCs) of the IOTC and curated by the IOTC Secretariat. The available fisheries statistics indicate that Indo-Pacific sailfish are mostly caught by artisanal fisheries using gillnets and a combination of longlines, troll lines, and handlines operated in coastal areas. Total catches of Indo-Pacific sailfish have steadily increased since the 1980s to exceed 32,000 t during 2017-2018, before decreasing to 27,800 t in 2020. Information available on discarding practices of Indo-Pacific sailfish in industrial fisheries indicates that discard levels are small in large-scale longline and purse seine fisheries and individuals generally discarded dead at sea. Discarding in coastal fisheries interacting with the species is poorly known but considered to be small. Information available on the spatial distribution of catch and effort has substantially improved over the last decade but remains limited, half of the total catch lacking accurate data on fishing grounds in 2020. Catches of Indo-Pacific sailfish are mainly located along the coasts of I.R. Iran, Pakistan, Oman, India, Sri Lanka and Tanzania, although the catch levels for this latter CPC are largely unknown. The reporting of size-frequency data has also improved over the last decade but remains very limited for most fisheries.