Update of Japanese annual catches of pelagic sharks between 1964 and 1993 by changing the species composition.

Japanese catch data of three pelagic sharks (blue shark, shortfin mako, and porbeagle) and the other sharks between 1964 and 1993 in the IOTC area was updated by using the FAO capture statistics and species composition of the main pelagic sharks calculated from current Japanese observer data. The update was conducted because the IOTC secretariat used unproved species composition of pelagic sharks to estimate Japanese catch data between 1964 and 1993 as the IOTC capture statistics. Japan requests that the IOTC secretariat replace the Japanese annual catches of three pelagic sharks in this period estimated by the IOTC secretariat with the catch data updated in this paper, as the official IOTC capture statistics. Also, the updated catch data of three pelagic sharks can be used in the stock assessments.