Rashid Sumaila, University of British Columbia fisheries economists, said that the balancing of short and long term fisheries has saved the cod populations in Atlantic Canada and the same method could be successful in tuna case also. According to Sumaila if the future generations of people negotiate with catch levels then there is good chance to save the tuna from extinction.
Sumaila and fellow scientists believe that the fate of tuna is no different from cod. Tuna stocks are on the brink of disastrous decline like the cod, which was at its peak in 1968 by delivering revenues US$ 1.4 billion and by 2004 it decline to only US$ 10 million. Developed countries using advanced long-line fishing fleets that enable them to harvest adult yellowfin tuna while the developing countries using less advanced fleets that targets juvenile yellowfin tuna as by-catch,
According to WWF, 16 percent of total tuna catch of the Philippine’s purse-seine fleet are juvenile yellowfin by-catch. If allowed to grow to maturity, this by-catch would total 1.2 million tonnes in marketable biomass. Sumaila says if cooperative management agreements established then it will benefit from much greater economic gains while preserving tuna population for the long run.
