Project Update on Deployment Plan for Whale Shark Post-Release Mortality Tags

As of 1 January 2014, WCPFC CCMs are required to prohibit their flag vessels from setting a purse seine on a school of tuna associated with a whale shark if the animal is sighted prior to the commencement of the set. They are also required to ensure that all reasonable steps are taken to ensure its safe release (see CMM 2012-04). In order to determine residual mortality rates under the safe release policy, as well as to provide further insights into which methods represent “best practice” for safe release, NOAA’s Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC) purchased ten electronic tags capable of reporting post-release condition for use in studying the fate of whale sharks released by the various suggested methods in the draft guidelines from purse seine nets in the western and central Pacific Ocean. NOAA has asked the WCPFC Secretariat (ABNJ Tuna Project Technical Coordinator-Sharks and Bycatch and the Regional Observer Programme) as well as the WCPFC’s Scientific Services Provider (SPC-OFP) and National Fisheries Authority of Papua New Guinea (NFA PNG) to assist with deployment of these tags. Once deployed, tag data will be reported to PIFSC for analysis and published with project collaborators.