While doing some fleet data validation doing a study on generated volumes by fishing vessels in the region (more to come when finished) I dived a bit on a publication I wrote about recently: the western and central Pacific tuna fishery: 2019 overview and status of stocks, and a couple of stats caught my attention.
guess i you duplicate the number of hooks?
The commercial longline fleet (excluding Vietnamese and Indonesian domestic and Japanese coastal longliners) peaked in size in 1994 at a total of 5,068 vessels. The fleet has steadily declined since then, and totalled 1,669 vessels in 2019. The percentage of longliners flagged to Pacific Island countries has steadily increased from 0 in the mid-1970s to around 30% in 2017-2019. While the number of longline vessels has declined over the history of the fishery, a more direct measure of effort -hooks fished- has shown a different trend. Total hooks fished in the WCPFC-CA varied around a level of 400 million from the mid-1970s to the late 1990s. Starting in 2001, hooks fished doubled to the 800 million level with the peak occurring in 2012 at 885 million hooks; 2019 was the second-highest level on record at 838 million hooks.
Then, I also read here “overview of the tuna fisheries in the WCPO including economic conditions-2019”, the following:
The estimated delivered value of the longline tuna catch in the WCPFC area for 2019 is $1.61 billion. This represents a decline of $125 million (7%) on the estimated value of the catch in 2018. The value of all target species except albacore saw a significant decline with the yellowfin and bigeye catch value declined by $116 million (14%) and $73 million (11%) respectively, while the albacore catch value rose by $63 million (22%).
These declines were driven primarily by lower longline caught tuna prices for yellowfin and bigeye in 2019 relative to 2018. In the southern longline fishery after recent improvements in the economic conditions have again deteriorated, as catch rates decline, despite relatively high fish prices and average costs. Economic conditions for the tropical longline fishery continue to remain below the 20-year average with CPUE and fish prices below their 20-year averages. Prices for longline caught yellowfin were mixed with prices for fresh imports into the US and Japan declining while the Japan fresh price at selected ports was marginally higher. Prices for longline caught bigeye in 2019 declined across the selected markets.
By no means I’m a fisheries economist at all, nor I even pretend to understand the macroeconomics of the tuna trade, in particular as most of these vessels are from DWFN. I just used to be a guy that caught tuna for a living.
So I’m abut puzzled by the fact that we over duplicated the number of hooks in the water from over the last 25 years (400 million in 1997 to 885 million in 2019) while at the same time we have MASSIVE reduction of the fleet (5068 FV in 1994 to 1669 in 2019), while the economic conditions index (LHS) for the tropical longline fishery has been below average levels since 2011 driven primarily by below-average catch rates.
So how does this happen? let’s go by parts a) 1/4 of the vessels, soak over twice the amount of hooks while at the same time b) they have not been making a lot of money for over 10 years.
And here I do get a bit pissed off… I was working on tuna longliners in the 90s and the last time I boarded one was in December 2019… deck and gear setting technology are the same. So the only way to duplicate the number of hooks you are soaking is by duplicating the workload of your crew… you fuc*ing assholes! on top of that, you are recruiting crew from by exploitation of the worsening economic condition and high population density of many SE Asian countries and so pay them every time shittier wages as to keep your numbers above the floating line.
On top of it, you stay afloat by the ridiculous amount of subsidies you flag and beneficial ownership states give you, while at the same time conduct most of your business on the high seas and do not incur any port expenses.
I wrote already about the 165% increase in the HS transhipment in the last 5 years by Taiwan, China, Vanuatu & Korea, from 554 in 2014 to 1472 in 2019 and as of 2 Nov 2020, 61% of vessels on the record were authorised to tranship in the High Seas by their flag State, based on the "impracticability" to go to port.
And when you transship you also do providing, crew changes, maintenance parts, repairs, etc. and then go and bunker fuel (tax-free) for the big bunker fleet!
So the reason you still there longlining, is not because is good business, is because you pay shit wages, overwork your crew, milk state subsidies, and avoid all port expenses under the complicit support of your flag and beneficial ownership state.
And then people get surprised why there is reticence to sign up to international agreements! just look at the hypocrisy developing countries perceive from countries like Korea, Japan, Vanuatu for example are signatories to FAO PSMA, the DG of FAO is a Chinese national and there is strong speculation that China will announce their ratification of PSMA at some stage. Taiwan has suggested that if they were allowed to be part of FAO they would have ratified.
Yet under article 20 of PSMA (Role of Flag States) numeral 3 it says:
“Each Party shall encourage vessels entitled to fly its flag to land, transship, package and process fish, and use other port services, in ports of States that are acting in accordance with, or in a manner consistent with this Agreement. Parties are encouraged to develop, including through regional fisheries management organizations and FAO, fair, transparent and non-discriminatory procedures for identifying any State that may not be acting in accordance with, or in a manner consistent with, this Agreement”
By allowing their vessels not only to continue to tranship at sea but by supporting it, as it is obvious by the 165% increase of HS transhipments we have seen in the WCPFC over the last 5 years, Korea, Japan and Vanuatu are failing to their obligations under PSMA... and there are no consequences... so what is the point of signing?
Anyway… sort of got it out of my chest…. sorry about that.