Activities Inside the FSM EEZ

The 2016 total catch in the FSM EEZ estimated from observer log-sheet reports was 202,867mt compared to only 139,491mt in 2015, increasing 63,376mt over that period. Both the longline and purse seine fleet had higher catches; twenty-eight longliners contributed 3,888mt, and one hundred and ninety-nine purse seiners contributed 198,979mt (Figure 1). The fishing effort for the distant-water purse seine fleet was concentrated in the southeastern portion of the FSM EEZ.

Figure 1: Purse seine, longline and Pole & Line catch in FSM EEZ, 2014-2016 (Click graph to view)

For all flagged vessels, the Japan purse seine fleet had the highest catch of tuna with a total of approximately 110,745mt followed by FSMA (33,337mt), Chinese Taipei (25,506mt), Korea (23,029mt), the USA (3,621mt) and China (2,741mt). For all the target stocks, skipjack had the highest catch of approximately 170,062mt followed by yellowfin (24,600mt) and bigeye (3,777mt) (see Table 1).

Table 1: Annual catch for purse seine within FSM EEZ by flag and stock, 2014-2016

The longline fleet operating inside the FSM EEZ had licensed vessels originating from Japan, Chinese Taipei, China and FSM National. Japan had the highest annual catch with a total of 1,736mt followed by FSM (1,263mt), China (576mt) and Chinese Taipei (313mt). The highest recorded catch per stock was bigeye (2,033mt) followed by yellowfin (1,233mt) and albacore (622mt) (see Table 2).

Table 2. Annual catch records for longline within FSM EEZ by flag and stock, 2014-2016

The total 2016 catch for pole-and-line was 2,283mt, a reduction of 318mt compared to 2015. Skipjack was the most targeted tuna stock with a total catch of approximately 10,919mt followed by bigeye (103mt) and yellowfin (47mt) (see Table 3). Fishing effort distribution for the pole-and-line fishery was concentrated primarily in the northeastern portion of the FSM EEZ. 

Table 3. Annual catch for Japanese pole & line within FSM EEZ, 2014-2016