What is the total allowable catch?

Fishers venture out to fish in mechanised boats in Mandapam North Sea, June 16, 2023, after the end of the 61-day fishing ban.
| Photo Credit: Balachandar L./The Hindu

The total allowable catch (TAC) is a limit on the total quantity of fish that fishers can catch in a particular area. It’s usual for agencies and governments worldwide that have jurisdiction over fisheries or fish stock in seas, oceans, lakes, etc. to impose a TAC to prevent fishers from catching and removing too many fish from the water body.

TACs are important so that the fish population in a water body can maintain a minimum size every year that allows it to sustain itself. Without a TAC, overfishing can remove too many fish, leaving behind too few for the population to sustain itself.

This is the same reason why India imposes a monsoon fishing ban — equivalent to a TAC of zero — for 61 days every year in its exclusive economic zone, from April 15 to June 14 on the east coast and June 1 to July 31 on the west coast.

Another TAC was recently in the news in an escalating dispute involving the US and Russia. Last month, a US judge blocked the import of Patagonia toothfish caught in the South Atlantic Ocean. Since 2021, Russia has refused to admit a TAC for this species in this area set by the Commission on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources. The rejection forced all other countries on the Commission to set their own limits. The UK subsequently adopted a lower TAC for the Patagonian toothfish in the area.

The US judge’s order now blocks fish caught in this area from being imported into the US.