Total Allowable Catch

At its eighteenth annual meeting in 2011, the CCSBT agreed that a Management Procedure (MP) would be used to guide the setting of the SBT global total allowable catch (TAC) to ensure that the SBT spawning stock biomass achieves the CCSBT’s rebuilding targets.

Under the adopted MP, the TAC is set in three-year periods. The TAC for 2018 to 2020 was 17,647 tonnes, the TAC for 2021 to 2023 was also 17,647 tonnes, the TAC for 2024 to 2026 was 20,647 tonnes, and the TAC for 2027-2029 is 23,647 tonnes.

The effective catch limits for Members of the CCSBT from 2018 to 2029 is summarised below. In addition, some flexibility is provided to Members for limited carry-forward of unfished allocations between quota years. This flexibility is described in the Resolution on Limited Carry-forward of Unfished Annual Total Available Catch of Southern Bluefin Tuna.

Effective Catch Limits (in tonnes) to Members

¹ These figures reflect the voluntary transfers of 21t that Japan is providing to Indonesia and 27t that Japan is providing to South Africa.

² These figures reflect: (1) voluntary transfers of 21t that Japan is providing to Indonesia and 27t that Japan is providing to South Africa; (2) a voluntary transfer of 7t that Australia is providing to Indonesia; and (3) a special temporary allowance of 80t to Indonesia.

³ Includes voluntary transfers to Indonesia of 21 t from Japan and a special temporary allowance of 130 t. It also includes a voluntary transfer of 27 t to South Africa from Japan.

⁴ Does not include 91.3 t to be repaid by Indonesia every year until 2026 as part of an agreed Payback Plan for a previous overcatch.

⁵ Includes a Special Temporary Allowance of 312 t to Indonesia, and voluntary transfer of 5 t to Indonesia from Japan and voluntary transfer of 5 t from Australia.

In addition to allocations for Members, 6 tonnes have been set aside for RMA each year in the current quota block.  Since 2018, Members are also required to account for all fishing mortality of southern bluefin tuna (including commercial fishing, discards, recreational catches and artisanal fishing etc.) from within their allocation of the TAC.  Finally, the Cape Town Procedure incorporates plausible Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) catches within the reference set of operating models used for testing and for tuning the Procedure to the CCSBT’s management objectives.

Additional information on the total catch and its allocation for the 2027 fishing season is provided in paragraphs 80 to 98 of the CCSBT 33 Report.