The Republic of the

Marshall Islands The Marshall Islands ( mh, Ṃajeḷ), officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands ( mh, Aolepān Aorōkin Ṃajeḷ),'' () is an independent island country and microstate near the Equator in the Pacific Ocean, slightly west of the Internati ...

has a commercial fishery that targets bigeye (''

Thunnus obesus The bigeye tuna (''Thunnus obesus'') is a species of true tuna of the genus ''Thunnus'', belonging to the wider mackerel family Scombridae. In Hawaiian, it is one of two species known as ahi, the other being the yellowfin tuna. Bigeye tuna are f ...

'') and yellowfin (''

Thunnus albacares The yellowfin tuna (''Thunnus albacares'') is a species of tuna found in pelagic waters of tropical and subtropical oceans worldwide. Yellowfin is often marketed as ahi, from the Hawaiian , a name also used there for the closely related bigeye t ...

'') tuna using

pelagic The pelagic zone consists of the water column of the open ocean, and can be further divided into regions by depth (as illustrated on the right). The word ''pelagic'' is derived . The pelagic zone can be thought of as an imaginary cylinder or wa ...

longline fishing Longline fishing, or longlining, is a commercial fishing angling technique that uses a long ''main line'' with baited hooks attached at intervals via short branch lines called ''snoods'' or ''gangions''.(MIMRA, 2012) There were 55 longline vessels licensed to fish in the Republic of the Marshall Islands Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in 2011, of which 4 were Marshall Islands-flagged and 51 were foreign-licensed vessels, including 22 Chinese-flagged, 16 Japanese-flagged, 11 Federated States of Micronesia-flagged, and 2 Taiwan-flagged. The Japanese-flagged longliners land their catch in Japan; the other 39 vessels were domestically-based (i.e., based from the Marshall Islands seaport at Majuro, the State's capitol). In 2011, the Marshall Islands longline fleet had reported landings of principal market species of 259 mt of bigeye tuna, 99 mt of yellowfin tuna, 37 mt of blue marlin, 7 mt of black marlin, 4 mt of albacore tuna, and 3 mt of broadbill swordfish (MIMRA, 2012). Fresh chilled bigeye and yellowfin tuna is exported primarily to markets in the U.S., China and Canada, and frozen tuna and incidental market species are exported to China and marketed locally. Recently, a seasonal pelagic longline fishery has developed for albacore tuna (''

Thunnus alalunga ''Thunnus'' is a genus of ocean-dwelling, ray-finned bony fish from the mackerel family, Scombridae. More specifically, ''Thunnus'' is one of five genera which make up the tribe Thunnini – a tribe that is collectively known as the tunas. Al ...

'') at grounds on the high seas adjacent to the Marshall Islands Exclusive Economic Zone. The fishery is composed primarily of Chinese-flagged vessels, which are based out of

Majuro Majuro (; Marshallese: ' ) is the capital and largest city of the Marshall Islands. It is also a large coral atoll of 64 islands in the Pacific Ocean. It forms a legislative district of the Ratak (Sunrise) Chain of the Marshall Islands. The ato ...

in the Marshall Islands; there were 11 vessels participating in this high seas fishery in late 2012. There is limited information available on catch levels and rates of taxa that are vulnerable to

overexploitation Overexploitation, also called overharvesting, refers to harvesting a renewable resource to the point of diminishing returns. Continued overexploitation can lead to the destruction of the resource, as it will be unable to replenish. The term app ...

due to their life history characteristics and susceptibility to capture in pelagic longline gear, due to low onboard observer coverage rates.

Bycatch

For seabird interactions, based on analysis of

Secretariat of the Pacific Community The Pacific Community (PC), formerly the South Pacific Commission (SPC), is an international development organisation governed by 27 members, including 22 Pacific island countries and territories. The organisation's headquarters are in Nouméa, ...

-held observer program data, from 1995-2009, in 203 observed trips, one seabird of an unidentified species was observed captured by a longline tuna vessel operating within the Marshall Islands EEZ. There was also one record of an albatross landing on a vessel deck, but not interacting with the gear. From 2007-2009, through onboard observer coverage of 124 longline trips, observers reported the capture of 5 green (''

Chelonia mydas The green sea turtle (''Chelonia mydas''), also known as the green turtle, black (sea) turtle or Pacific green turtle, is a species of large sea turtle of the Family (biology), family Cheloniidae. It is the only species in the genus ''Chelonia' ...

''), 1 hawksbill (''

Eretmochelys imbricata The hawksbill sea turtle (''Eretmochelys imbricata'') is a critically endangered sea turtle belonging to the family Cheloniidae. It is the only extant species in the genus ''Eretmochelys''. The species has a global distribution, that is large ...

''), 14 leatherback (''

Dermochelys coriacea The leatherback sea turtle (''Dermochelys coriacea''), sometimes called the lute turtle or leathery turtle or simply the luth, is the largest of all living turtles and the heaviest non-crocodilian reptile, reaching lengths of up to and weights ...

''), 3 olive Ridley (''

Lepidochelys olivacea The olive ridley sea turtle (''Lepidochelys olivacea''), also known Common name, commonly as the Pacific ridley sea turtle, is a species of turtle in the Family (biology), family Cheloniidae. The species is the second-smallest and most abundant ...

''), 2 unidentified species sea turtles, and 3 toothed whales of identified species.(MIMRA, 2009, 2009, 2010) Based on analyses of observer data collected from 2005 to 2009, 22 shark species were observed captured in the Marshall Islands longline tuna fishery, with 80% of the shark catch representing five species: blue shark (''

Prionace glauca The blue shark (''Prionace glauca''), also known as the great blue shark, is a species of requiem shark, in the family Carcharhinidae, which inhabits deep waters in the world's temperate and tropical oceans. Averaging around and preferring co ...

''), silky shark (''

Carcharhinus falciformis The silky shark (''Carcharhinus falciformis''), also known by numerous names such as blackspot shark, gray whaler shark, olive shark, ridgeback shark, sickle shark, sickle-shaped shark and sickle silk shark, is a species of requiem shark, in the f ...

''), bigeye thresher shark (''

Alopias superciliosus The bigeye thresher (''Alopias superciliosus'') is a species of thresher shark, family Alopiidae, found in temperate and tropical oceans worldwide. Like the other thresher sharks, nearly half its total length consists of the elongated upper lobe ...

''), pelagic thresher shark (''A. pelagicus'') and oceanic whitetip shark (''

Carcharhinus longimanus The oceanic whitetip shark (''Carcharhinus longimanus''), also known as shipwreck shark, Brown Milbert's sand bar shark, brown shark, lesser white shark, nigano shark, oceanic white-tipped whaler, and silvertip shark, is a large pelagic requiem ...

'') (Bromhead et al., 2012). Based on 2009 observer data, sharks and rays compose about 18% of total catch by weight by the Marshall Islands longline fishery.

Elasmobranch Elasmobranchii () is a subclass of Chondrichthyes or cartilaginous fish, including sharks (superorder Selachii), rays, skates, and sawfish (superorder Batoidea). Members of this subclass are characterised by having five to seven pairs of gil ...

species composition Species richness is the number of different species represented in an community (ecology), ecological community, landscape or region. Species richness is simply a count of species, and it does not take into account the Abundance (ecology), abunda ...

is 30% blue shark, 13% silky shark, 10% mako shark, 9% oceanic whitetip shark, and 37% other combined sharks and rays. Bromhead et al. (2012) found that in 2009, the most recent year of available observer data, the fishery had discontinued the use of fishing gear and methods known to be employed to target sharks (using large pieces of fish meat as bait, and placing baited hooks near the surface by attaching branchlines to floats), which had been employed in previous years of the study period (2005-2008). In 2011 the Marshall Islands adopted a law that prohibits targeting sharks and prohibits the retention of sharks (see

shark sanctuary A shark sanctuary is an area that forbids commercial fishing operations from targeting and retaining caught sharks, including their fins. The first shark sanctuary was created by Palau in 2009. It was followed by Maldives, Honduras, The Bahamas and ...

References

External references

*Bromhead, D., Clarke, S., Hoyle, S., Muller, B., Sharples, P., Harley, S. 2012. Identification of factors influencing shark catch and mortality in the Marshall Islands tuna longline fishery and management implications. ''Journal of Fish Biology'' 80: 1870-1894. *Gilman, E. 2006. ''Incidental Capture of Seabirds in Pelagic Longline Fisheries of the Tropical and Subtropical Pacific Islands Region and Draft Pacific Islands Regional Plan of Action for Reducing the Incidental Catch of Seabirds in Pelagic Longline Fisheries''. Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency, Honiara, Solomon Islands. Available online at: http://iwlearn.net/iw-projects/2131/reports/Seabird%20Bycatch%20longline%20fisheries%20report%20Sept_06.pdf. *Gilman, E., Owens, M., Kraft, T. 2013. ''Ecological Risk Assessment and Fuel Efficiency of the Republic of the Marshall Islands Longline Tuna Fishery''. Norpac Fisheries Export, Seattle. Available online at: https://sites.google.com/site/wcpobetfip/home/ERA_RMI_LL_tuna_fishery_FINAL_May2013.pdf?attredirects=0&attredirects=0&attredirects=0&d=1. *MIMRA. 2008. Republic of the Marshall Islands Annual Report Part 1. Information of Fisheries, Statistics and Research. Annual Report to the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission Scientific Committee Fourth Regular Session. WCPFC-SC4-AR/CCM-12. Oceanic and Industrial Affairs Division, Marshall Islands Marine Resources Authority, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Majuro. *MIMRA. 2009. Republic of the Marshall Islands Annual Report Part 1. Information of Fisheries, Statistics and Research. Annual Report to the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission Scientific Committee Fifth Regular Session. WCPFC-SC5-AR/CCM-12. Oceanic and Industrial Affairs Division, Marshall Islands Marine Resources Authority, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Majuro. *MIMRA. 2010. Republic of the Marshall Islands Annual Report Part 1. Information of Fisheries, Statistics and Research. Annual Report to the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission Scientific Committee Sixth Regular Session. WCPFC-SC6-AR/CCM-12. Oceanic and Industrial Affairs Division, Marshall Islands Marine Resources Authority, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Majuro. *MIMRA. 2012. Republic of the Marshall Islands Annual Report Part 1. ''Information of Fisheries, Statistics and Research. Annual Report to the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission, Eighth Regular Session''. WCPFC-SC8-AR/CCM-12. Oceanic and Industrial Affairs Division, Marshall Islands Marine Resources Authority, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Majuro. Available online at: http://www.wcpfc.int/system/files/documents/meetings/scientific-committee/8th-regular-session/annual-report-part-1/AR-CCM-12RMI.pdf . {{fisheries and fishing

Economy of the Marshall Islands