Tuna stocks in South China Sea under threat, scientists from around region warn
- Experts from five nations urge cooperation on fisheries management
- Report says overfishing of juvenile skipjack could lead to rapid population decline
A working group of scientists from China, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam said in the report that stocks of skipjack tuna were under pressure and threatened by overfishing of young tuna.
The First Common Fisheries Resource Analysis was released at a conference on Friday by the South China Sea Fisheries Working Group, which began regular dialogue in 2018.
Skipjack tuna is listed by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea as a highly migratory species, imposing a special responsibility on coastal and fishing states to cooperatively manage stock.
“Throughout the South China Sea, there is increasing use of fishing equipment that can catch juvenile skipjack tuna,” the working group’s report said. “If left unmanaged, this could result in too many juveniles being caught before they can breed, which would result in a rapid decline of the population.”
Friday’s conference was co-hosted by the China-Southeast Asia Research Centre on the South China Sea, which is based in Beijing, and the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue in Manila.