Taiwan and Japan have been allocated bigger catch quotas for southern bluefin tuna next year following two years of strict control under an allowable catch scheme, Taiwan's Fisheries Agency said Monday.
The agency said in a statement the Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna agreed at the 20th annual meeting in Adelaide, Australia, early this month that the global allowable catch for next year will be set at 12,449 tons, 1,500 tons more than this year.
Japan is allocated 3,361 tons, up 658 tons and Taiwan can catch 1,036 tons, up 88 tons.
If the global allowable catch increases to 14,647 tons in 2015, Taiwan expects to get an annual quota of 1,140 tons.
Southern bluefin tuna are found throughout the Southern Hemisphere, mainly between 30 and 50 degrees south latitude, the CCSBT says on its website.
Taiwanese trawlers pull the seasonal fish out of the Indian Ocean, while occasional catches are made by fishing boats operating 30 degrees south in the Atlantic and Pacific.
Established in 1994, the organization's objective is to ensure, through appropriate management, the conservation and optimum utilization of the global southern bluefin tuna fishery.
Both Taiwan and Japan are CCSBT members.
Members and cooperating nonmembers are required to comply with the catch documentation scheme whereby the catch is tracked throughout the fishing and marketing process.