The Secretariat of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fisheries and Food (SAGARPA) in Mexico has announced amendments to the temporary ban for offshore boats fishing for various tuna species in the Pacific Ocean.
The changes, it explained, are in line with the resolutions of the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC), of which Mexico is a party.
This measure also applies to boats from the Mexican flagged purse seine fleet fishing for these species in the high seas and in foreign jurisdictional waters that are in the IATTC regulated area.
The document includes the particulars of the temporary ban on commercial fishing of tuna species performed with Mexican flagged ships having more than 182 metric tons carrying capacity using purse seines in waters under federal jurisdiction of the Pacific Ocean.
The closures correspond to the following periods:
From 00:00 on 29 July to 2:00 on 28 September, for the years 2015 and 2016.
Alternatively, permit or concession holders may be subject to the following close seasons, when force majeure reasons apply:
*From 00:00 on 18 November, 2015 until 24:00 on 18 January, 2016.
*From 00:00 on 18 November, 2016 until 24:00 on 18 January, 2017.
SAGARPA stressed that the use of the species yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares), bigeye tuna (Thunnus obesus), bluefin tuna (Thunnus orientalis) and skipjack (Katsuwonus pelamis) in territorial waters of the Mexican Pacific Ocean and international Eastern Pacific Ocean (EPO) by vessels flying the Mexican flag, generates a significant economic benefit for the country.
In addition, the tuna fishery contributes to the production of food for domestic consumption and job creation, both in its catch phase and the processing and marketing stages.