Seychelles tuna bulletin : third quarter 1986

Abstract

The number of purse seiners active in the Western Indian Ocean during the third quarter of 1986 stabilized at 33 vessels. This is comparable to the 34 vessels licensed in September of last year. As determined from purse seiner logbooks collected up to the end of September, catch rates improved considerably from the first and second quarter 1986 though not reaching the level of the first quarter of 1984. The proportion of yellow fin in the catch was also lower than the previous years. In the first half of 1986, the seasonal variation in the distribution of fishing effort and in the species composition of the catch differed from previous years. In the past, yellow fin was the dominant species from November through July, at this period most of the fleet operated inside the EEZ. During January and February 1986, the proportion of yellow fin was high, but fell sharply from April to June as vessels, moved to the area south of the EEZ and to the north of the Mozambique Canal. In the beginning of September, as vessels moved North East of the EEZ, catch rates improved considerable but skipjack continued to the dominant species, comprising 85% of the catch. The total catch by purse seiners up to the third quarter 1986 has been estimated at 88,137 tones. As most vessels have been operating away from Seychelles for the second quarter as well for part of the third quarter 1986 the lag in data collection has been longer than usual and statistic for the third quarter are still incomplete.

•Seychelles •Western Indian Ocean