The National Aquaculture and Fisheries Commission (CONAPESCA) announced that on Monday, January 20, the tuna fishing season began with purse-seine vessels in the Pacific Ocean.

 

The decentralized body of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development explained that the tuna fishery has great relevance for Mexico for its contribution to the food sector and the regional economy.

 

The activity generates around 70,000 jobs, direct and indirect, and an average of 148,000 tons of products with high nutritional value.

 

Preliminary figures indicate that during 2019 the volume of tuna production was more than 148 000 tons and the entities with the highest production were Sinaloa, Colima, Chiapas and Baja California, the Commission said.

 

CONAPESCA also stressed that, according to information from the Research Trust for the Development of the Tuna Exploitation and Dolphin Protection Program (Fidemar), Mexico remains a leading country in sustainable and responsible fishing for tuna, in accordance with the Agreement National Protection of Dolphins and the Use of Tuna, since the technicians and captains of the tuna fleet are certified by the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC).

 

 

The Directorate General for Fisheries and Aquaculture Management of CONAPESCA informed that the period of closure was notified by means of the “Agreement establishing a temporary ban for commercial fishing for yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares), bigeye tuna (Thunnus obesus), bluefin tuna (Thunnus orientalis) and skipjack (Katsuwonus pelamis) in waters under the federal jurisdiction of the Mexican United States of the Pacific Ocean, and which temporarily prohibits that Mexican flag purse-seine vessels capture such species at high seas and waters foreign jurisdictions that are in the area of ​​regulation of the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission for the years 2018, 2019 and 2020 ”.

 

 

The agreement was published in the Official Gazette of the Federation (DOF) on July 3, 2018, based on the technical opinion of the National Institute of Fisheries and Aquaculture  (INAPESCA) and the Resolutions issued by the IATTC, of ​​which Mexico forms part.

 

The temporary closure and tuna fishery with purse seines in the Pacific Ocean are regulated by the "Official Mexican Norm NOM-001-SAG / PESC-2013, responsible tuna fishing. Specifications for fishing operations with purse seine", published in the DOF on January 16, 2014, and whose objective is to establish the terms and conditions for tuna fishing with Mexican flag vessels equipped with purse seine nets, in order to induce the sustainable use of these resources and minimize the mortality of dolphins associated with schools in fishing operations.