Highlights of the 10th Regular Session of Scientific Committee
Highlights of the 10th Regular Session of Scientific Committee
The Tenth Regular Session of the Scientific Committee (SC10), which met from 6th to 14th August 2014, was hosted by the Republic of the Marshall Islands. Mr Ludwig Kumoru from Papua New Guinea chaired the meeting.
SC10 reviewed the 2013 tuna fisheries in the Convention Area, where the provisional total tuna catch for 2013 was estimated at 2,621,511 mt, and the second highest on record in 2012 (2,652,322 mt). This catch represents 80% of the total Pacific Ocean catch, and 57% of the global tuna catch. The Committee reviewed the results of stock assessments on North Pacific albacore tuna, Pacific bluefin tuna, North Pacific swordfish, North Pacific blue shark, bigeye tuna, yellowfin tuna and skipjack tuna, noting that the last 3 assessments reflect the recommendations from the peer review of the 2011 bigeye stock assessment.
The Committee also reviewed fisheries science data gaps in the Commission, especially on the non-provision of operational data, ongoing work on limit reference points for tuna including the acceptable risk of breaching them, bycatch issues especially related to birds and sharks and a proposed measure to develop a Commission process to adopt harvest strategies.
USD 1,456,200 was proposed for scientific activities in 2015. The next meeting of the Scientific Committee (SC11) will be held in Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia in August 2015.