The catch of tuna in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean (WCPO).
About 51 percent of the world’s production of tuna is from the Western and Central Pacific Ocean (WCPO) – FAO Major Fishing Areas 61, 71 and 81. Provisional catches of skipjack tuna, yellowfin tuna and bigeye tuna in 2023 were 2 490 300 tonnes, a 2 percent decrease from 2022; and provisional catches of North Pacific albacore tuna, South Pacific albacore tuna and Pacific bluefin tuna were 120 000 tonnes, a 25 percent decrease from 2022. Note that despite catches of North Pacific albacore tuna, South Pacific albacore tuna and Pacific bluefin tuna occurring throughout the entire Pacific Ocean (i.e. in both the IATTC and WCPFC areas), they are reported under this section dealing with the WCPFC. The catch of tropical tunas in the WCPO steadily and continuously increased by around half a million tonnes per decade since the 1960s, reaching 1 million tonnes in 1984, 1.5 million tonnes in 1994, and 2 million tonnes in 2005, before peaking...