Status on neritic tuna in Peninsular Malaysia

Neritic tuna species are among the important pelagic fish caught by commercial and traditional fishing gears. The main neritic tuna found in Malaysian waters were longtail (Thunnus tonggol) and kawakawa (Euthynnus affinis) while frigate tuna (Auxis thazard) were rarely caught because they were mostly found toward the offshore area. About 45% of the neritic tuna catch in Malaysia were from the Malacca Straits (west coast of Peninsular Malaysia) and the rest are from South China Sea and Sulu and Celebes Sea, east coast of Borneo continent. Annual catch of neritic tuna in the Malacca Straits showed increasing trends but the opposite trends occurred in the South China Sea. The purse seine contributed about 82% of the annual catches of neritic tuna and as the most important fishing gear in neritic tuna fisheries.