The Pacific bluefin tuna stock is severely depleted, yet overfishing continues. The size of the spawning adult population is extremely small, which makes population recovery difficult.
Pelagic longline fisheries are likely to cause significant damage to some endangered, threatened, protected (ETP) species, in particular, sea turtles, sharks and seabirds. The large-scale removal of top predators such as the Pacific bluefin tuna from the ecosystem has serious impact on their populations including other tunas and bycatch species such as sharks.
This fishery is managed by the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) and the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC). More stringent measures are particularly needed to mitigate the impact on ETP species and bycatch. The overall management is deemed marginally effective.
