Available stocks of longtail tuna and kawakawa in Southeast Asian Waters being verified

The SEAFDEC Secretariat organized the Practical Workshop on Stock and Risk Assessments of Longtail (LOT) Tuna and Kawakawa (KAW) in the Southeast Asian Waters on 10-15 February 2020 at the SEAFDEC Training Department (SEAFDEC/TD) in Samut Prakan, Thailand. Attended by representatives from the SEAFDEC Member Countries, namely: Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, Viet Nam, and observers from the Research Institute of Far Seas Fisheries (Japan), as well as representatives from the SEAFDEC Secretariat, SEAFDEC/MFRDMD, and SEAFDEC/TD, the training had Dr. Tsutomu (Tom) Nishida and Mr. Supapong Pattarapongpan as resource persons. The Workshop was aimed at promoting sustained utilization of neritic tunas in the Southeast Asian waters and also at sharing the data compiled and quality control techniques based on the recommendations during the 5th Meeting of the Scientific Working Group, with Brunei Darussalam serving as coordinator in the compilation and preparation of the data for this Workshop. During the Workshop, the discussion focused on the updates on the stock and risk assessments of LOT and KAW. 

It should be recalled that starting 2015, the SEAFDEC Secretariat, SEAFDEC/MFRDMD and SEAFDEC/TD organized series of training-workshops on the stock and risk assessments of neritic tunas, especially longtail and kawakawa with Dr. Nishida as the resource person. The practical training sessions are deemed necessary to confirm and verify the status of stocks of neritic tunas in the waters of Southeast Asia using data from the respective countries and in order that concerned technical persons from the region could gain experience in the assessment methodologies using their respective compiled data. Thus, during the practical workshops, the participants practiced the specific software for stock assessment analysis, e.g. CPUE standardization, ASPIC, Kobe Plot I-II, and risk assessment using the available data and present the results of the stock assessment analysis. The Workshop also came up with recommendations on the management of neritic tunas in the Southeast Asian waters. The results of stock and risk assessments of LOT and KAW will be submitted for consideration during the 6th Meeting of Scientific Working Group on Neritic Tunas in July 2020 to be hosted by SEAFDEC/MFRDMD.