NOAA Approves Western and Central Pacific Bigeye Tuna Catch Limit

NOAA has established a catch limit for bigeye tuna (Thunnus obesus) in the U.S. pelagic longline fisheries in the western and central Pacific Ocean for each of the calendar years 2009, 2010, and 2011, having determined that the species’ Pacific Ocean population is subject to overfishing.

The rule, published Monday in the Federal Register, puts in place catch limits for longline fisheries, which target adult bigeye. Under this rule, the U.S. will reduce its longline catch of bigeye tuna from the 2004 baseline catch of 4,181 metric tons (mt) to 3,763 mt.