Tuna fishery is an important part of China's pelagic fishery. China is a member of tuna management organizations such as the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna (ICCAT), the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC), the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) and the Inter American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC) ( collectively referred to as the "international tuna organization" in the Circular). Effective implementation of the conservation and management measures formulated by the above-mentioned international tuna organizations is an international obligation of all members. In order to further enhance China's international compliance capacity of tuna fisheries, promote the standardized and orderly development of China's pelagic fisheries, and maintain China's image as a responsible big country, the relevant matters are notified by this Circular.
The international tuna organizations have formulated relevant conservation and management measures for registration of fishing vessels, fishing logs, fishing quotas, restrictions on operating areas and fishing gear, minimum fishing specifications, vessels position monitoring, catch transhipment and reception observers, high seas landing inspection, fishing certificate system, bycatch species protection, marine environmental protection, temporary fishing and fishing vessel leasing, and fishing vessel identification, and have continuously revised and updated them. the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs has formulated relevant regulations to implement them (see the annex for relevant regulations). All tuna production enterprises and their subordinate fishing vessels shall comply with the provisions of the above regulatory measures, strictly regulate production and operation activities, and timely and accurately submit relevant data. Any violation may constitute non-compliance. Serious violators may be included in the list of illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing vessels. The Ministry will seriously investigate and deal with all kinds of violations in accordance with the law.
In addition, China has not joined the Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna, and there is no catch quota for southern bluefin tuna. To this end, the Ministry reiterates that it is prohibited for Chinese fishing vessels to catch southern bluefin tuna, and it is prohibited to keep, transfer and unload southern bluefin tuna on board. The mistakenly caught southern bluefin tuna should be released immediately and recorded in the fishing log.
According the relevant regulations listed in the annex, the enterprises of tuna fishing vessels that have obtained the high seas fishing license issued by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs shall go through the registration formalities through the China Ocean Fisheries Association in accordance with the relevant requirements of the international tuna organization, and start production after completing the registration. The Ministry does not approve the pelagic fishery projects that mainly catches sharks. All pelagic fishery enterprises and fishing vessels shall take effective measures to avoid or reduce shark bycatching as far as possible.