Record shows that the average weight of southern bluefin tuna caught this year is about 20 percent higher than last year and the population also has increased. It means tuna populations have been recovering since it was revealed in 2006 that the Japanese had been illegally taking 40,000 tonnes of southern bluefin tuna each year for the past 20 years.
Australian Tuna Association chief executive Brian Jeffries opined that he had not seen fishermen so excited about catches for about 15 years. He added that it is the best season that to be remembered over the past 20 years. He also said that there is a lot more than there has been in the past 10 years and the fish are bigger in that period.
Sekol Ranched Tuna transferred 2200 fish weighing an average of 16kg from the Southern Ocean into holding cages at the weekend. It is informed that this trend of growing fish will continue for another five months in the holding area about 15km off Port Lincoln. Jeffries said it was difficult to predict the value of this year’s catch. But he is optimist that the effects of the global financial crisis on the Japanese market, which takes most of the tuna, could not be forecast.
