Pacific Tuna Tagging Programme (PTTP)

Gathering information on the growth, movements, natural mortality and fishing mortality of tuna to support conservation and management

The PTTP is a joint research project, implemented by the Oceanic Fisheries Programme (OFP) of the Pacific
Community (SPC). The goal of the Pacific Tuna Tagging Programme is to provide data and knowledge for stock assessment and management of skipjack, yellowfin and bigeye tuna in the Pacific Ocean. The objectives of the PTTP are:

1. to obtain data that will contribute to, and reduce uncertainty in, WCPO tuna stock assessments including estimation of overall and local exploitation rates, extent of mixing and appropriate spatial strata for use in assessments;
2. to obtain information to better understand the interactions between tropical tuna species and major fishing gears to support development of mitigation measures (where appropriate) and better interpret fisheries data (e.g., CPUE).
Under these objectives, information collected includes age‐specific rates of movement and mixing, movement between this region and other adjacent regions of the Pacific basin, species‐specific vertical habitat utilisation by tunas, and the impacts of FADs on behaviour.

Under these objectives, information collected includes age‐specific rates of movement and mixing, movement between this region and other adjacent regions of the Pacific basin, species‐specific vertical habitat utilisation by tunas, and the impacts of FADs on behaviour.