Recursos Marinos y Pesquerías

IUCN Red List Workshop for Tunas and Billfishes

02/03/11 ,

From Feb. 15-18, 17 marine fishery biologists from four countries (US, Japan, Spain, and Brazil) met at the International Game Fish Foundation in Fort Lauderdale, FL in an International Union for the Conservation of Nature Red List Workshop to integrate previous assessments of the threat status to 18 species of tunas and billfishes. These species had been evaluated at previous IUCN Red List workshops in Lima, Peru; Taipei, Taiwan; and Brasilia, Brazil. Half of them were widespread species that needed to have the results of the regional workshop evaluations combined to produce a global threat assessment, the other half were species that needed additional review due to acquisition of new data. Draft evaluations have now been completed for the 64 species in four families: Scombridae (tunas and mackerels),Istiophoridae (billfishes), Xiphiidae (swordfish), and Coryphaenidae (dolphinfishes). Preliminary conclusions are that two thirds of the species are of Least Concern, 19% do not yet have sufficient data for adequate conclusions, and 17% are under some degree of threat. Final results will be published on the IUCN Red List this fall after peer review of the draft results. Bruce B. Collette, Chair, IUCN Tuna and Billfish Specialist Group.