Statistics of the European Union and associated flags purse seine fishing fleet targeting tropical tunas in the Indian Ocean 1981-2013

In 2013, the European and associated flags (EAF) purse seine fishing fleet of the Indian Ocean was composed of 35 vessels of individual capacity >800 t, which all represented a total carrying capacity >45,000 t of tuna. The total cumulated nominal effort exerted during the year was about 10,000 and 8,000 fishing and searching days, respectively. The EAF purse seiners cumulated a total of more than 9,300 fishing sets, with 80% made on FAD-associated schools (FAD) and 20% realised on free-swwiming schools (FSC). The total annual landings of the principal market tunas by the French purse seine fishing fleet increased by 20% between 2012 and 2013 and reached more than 270,000 t. The landings were composed of about 49%, 42%, and 9% yellowfin, skipjack, and bigeye, respectively. Total catches on FAD-associated schools increased from 150,000 t in 2012 to about 225,000 t in 2013 (+50%) while catches on FSC substantially decreased from 78,000 t to about 45,000 t (-43%). The percentage of yellowfin in the FAD catch has steadily increased over the recent years from about 25% during 2006-2009 to more than 40% in 2012-2013. The catch of skipjack per positive set on FADassociated schools has strongly decreased since the early 2000s, from >30 t set in 2002-2003 to 30 t set ) in 2012-2013.