U.S.-Canada Albacore Treaty data exchange

National Marine Fisheries Service and Department of Fisheries and Oceans – Canada collaborate through the Data Working Group (DWG) to develop a mutually agreed upon data summary of catch and landings of North Pacific albacore landed on west coast of Canada and the United States. The DWG has developed a Data Exchange Template, designed to provide relevant data to the delegations for the treaty between the United States and Canada on Pacific Coast Albacore Tuna vessels and Port Privileges. The summary tables are available here thanks to the respective governments’ willingness to allow public dissemination of this information. (As noted in the tables, the most recent year’s data are considered preliminary and may be subsequently updated.). Updated tables as of 8/1/2023.

Data exchange tables through 2023

All tables in Excel Workbook

Table 1. Catch of Albacore by Canadian and U.S. Albacore Troll and Pole-and-Line Vessels in the North Pacific Ocean 1
	Canadian Fleet 2, 3					U.S. Fleet 5, 9
Year	Canadian EEZ (%)	U.S. EEZ (%)	High Seas (%)	Total catch (metric tons)	Logbook coverage (%)4	U.S. EEZ (%)	Canadian EEZ (%)	High Seas (%)	Total catch (metric tons)6	Logbook coverage (%) 7
1995	88	2.2	9.8	1,761	18	5.4	5.7	88.9	8,125	63
1996	16.9	45.8	37.3	3,321	24	13.5	0.1	86.4	16,962	42
1997	7.2	30.5	62.3	2,166	30	16.5	3.5	80.0	14,325	38
1998	7.3	43.6	49.1	4,177	50	14.8	0.1	85.1	14,489	35
1999	16.6	66.8	16.6	2,734	71	65.3	0.8	33.9	10,120	35
2000	9.6	73.1	17.4	4,531	68	69.6	0.2	30.2	9,714	41
2001	13.5	72.7	13.9	5,248	81	57.0	0.3	42.7	11,349	49
2002	7.8	86.2	5.9	5,379	74	63.9	2.0	34.0	10,768	38
2003	8.0	85.3	6.6	6,847	96	86.0	0.6	13.3	14,161	36
2004	16.9	80.7	2.4	7,857	92	92.9	1.2	5.9	13,473	47
2005	33.1	62.6	4.3	4,829	94	92.0	2.3	5.8	8,479	73
2006	18.5	70.1	11.3	5,833	95	82.5	1.0	16.5	12,547	93
2007	21.5	78.5	0.1	6,041	92	98.8	0.7	0.5	11,908	86
2008	4.5	86.4	9.1	5,464	93	78.5	6.0	15.5	11,761	79
2009	7.1	91.3	1.5	5,693	97	93.1	2.5	4.4	12,340	86
2010	35.9	51.2	12.9	6,526	96	72.1	2.1	25.9	11,689	76
2011	12.4	85.7	2.0	5,415	98	94.9	0.4	4.7	10,143	84
2012	83.0	0.0	17.0	2,484	100	99.2	0.0	0.8	14,149	81
2013	59.6	37.9	2.5	5,088	99	96.4	1.5	2.1	12,310	76
2014	55.3	44.6	0.1	4,780	100	94.6	5.2	0.2	13,398	84
2015	66.5	33.4	0.1	4,391	100	96.5	3.3	0.2	11,595	86
2016	54.8	44.4	0.8	2,842	100	97.9	1.4	0.7	10,777	79
2017	11.2	75.0	13.8	1,830	100	91.2	0.2	8.7	7,430	81
2018	30.8	68.9	0.3	2,717	100	95.4	3.8	0.8	7,728	72
2019	51.7	44.9	3.4	2,402	100	93.0	4.2	2.8	7,797	76
2020	71.5	19.6	8.9	2,376	100	77.8	9.5	12.7	7,516	73
2021	70.1	27.9	2.0	2,419	100	80.3	13.6	6.1	4,209	85.6
2022	67.7	31.0	1.3	3,639	100	86.6	12.2	1.2	8,441	93.5
2023 8	87.6	0.0	12.4	1,143	100	77.9	0.0	22.1	3,161	83.3
Data Sources and Notes:
	1 Locations are based on logbook records, which are self-reported by vessels.
	2 Canadian data during 1995-2011 are taken from Canadian Tuna Database version 13.02.11.
	3 Percentage of Canadian catch in various zones is based catch locations recorded in logbook. Total Canadian catch data reported in this table are expanded to account for non-reporting vessels based on logbook coverage (cf. Table 2).
	4 Canadian logbook coverage rates are calculated by dividing the number of logbook reporting vessels with the total number of vessels.
	5 USA catch in various zones are based on the percentage of catch recorded by logbooks in each zone.
	6 USA total catch is the sum of landings in the USA west coast ports (from PacFIN) and landings in foreign ports. Since these data sources are considered to be complete, total catch is not expanded based on logbook coverage.
	7 USA logbook coverage rates are based on the ratio of trip landings weights recorded in logbooks to the sum of landings from PacFIN and foreign ports (see Footnote 6).
	8 Preliminary data subject to change. Canadian data from Canadian tuna database version 24.01.24
	9 Proportion of US catch in high seas zone was estimated from logbook data, and includes catch in U.S. EEZ off Alaska due to shapefile used. Catch in waters off Alaska were limited and do not affect the estimates substantially.

Table 2. Landings of Albacore (by country of landing port) by Canadian and U.S. Albacore Troll and Pole-and-Line Vessels in the North Pacific Ocean
	Canadian Fleet 1											US fleet13
	Landings (metric tons) 2					Number of Landings			Number of Landing Vessels			Landings (metric tons)						Number of Landings				Number of Vessels that landed fish 7
Year	Canadian Ports	U.S. Ports (DFO estimates) 3	U.S. Ports (NOAA estimates) 4	Other Ports 5,8	Total 10	Canadian Ports	U.S. Ports (DFO estimates) 3	U.S. Ports (NOAA estimates) 4	Canadian Ports	U.S. Ports (DFO estimates)	U.S. Ports (NOAA estimates) 9	Canadian Ports (DFO estimates from offload slips) 6	Canadian Ports (DFO estimates from port access applications) 14	Canadian Ports (NOAA estimates)	U.S. Ports 9	Other Ports11	Total 10	Canadian Ports (DFO estimates from offload slips) 6	Canadian Ports (DFO estimates from port access applications) 14	Canadian Ports (NOAA estimates)	U.S. Ports 9	Canadian Ports (DFO estimates from offload slips) 6	Canadian Ports (DFO estimates from port access applications) 14	Canadian Ports (NOAA estimates)	U.S. Ports 9
1995	230	67	67	104	401	76	4	7	53	3	4				6,407	1,753	8160				1,000				472
1996	662	311	868	106	1636	93	33	102	62	20	66				13,209	2,188	15397				1,710				658
1997	563	294	399	147	1109	67	25	54	51	14	32				10,831	3,009	13840				3,674				1,160
1998	1,892	281	961	82	2935	173	30	67	104	16	29				12,628	1,135	13763				2,470				838
1999	1,574	484	713	193	2480	274	69	106	158	35	52				8,809	1,422	10231				2,619				772
2000	2,432	537	889	424	3745	346	79	110	160	44	57				8,086	1,574	9660				2,230				707
2001	3,474	617	806	364	4644	520	51	92	193	31	52				10,263	972	11235				3,453				929
2002	3,866	181	702	347	4915	465	29	71	169	17	38			^	9,298	163	9461			<3	2,432			<3	696
2003	3,781	2,132	3,118	655	7554	464	241	285	177	87	105			^	13,491	487	13978			<3	2,821			<3	782
2004	2,586	977	1,130	3,590	7153	659	141	89	198	67	52			444	13,367	24	13835			10	2,727			<3	727
2005	3,473	745	811	286	4570	513	88	85	195	49	45			83	8,217	9	8309			4	1,761			3	552
2006	5,281	327	397	300	5978	495	35	31	161	18	19			^	12,374		12374			<3	2,163			<3	615
2007	5,596	283	357	73	6026	559	29	35	191	20	22			674	11,143		11817			13	2,471			9	651
2008	3,693	1,236	1,359	122	5174	341	106	114	123	42	46	721		455	9,768		10489	19		9	1,700	11		6	477
2009	4,662	642	650	298	5610	434	53	47	134	30	26	721		664	11,621		12342	16		12	2,596	11		8	655
2010	4,961	811	958	446	6365	502	78	76	154	45	42	919		601	10,871		11790	24		17	2,339	16		9	609
2011	4,059	1,094	1,179	170	5408	453	89	93	174	47	47	611		282	9,840		10451	21		12	2,560	13		8	640
2012	2,219	0	0	265	2484	276	0	0	174	0	0	0		0	13,861		13861	0		0	3,309	0		0	816
2013	4,301	609	650	168	5119	278	39	41	177	19	22	514		289	12,019		12533	16		9	2,559	12		6	684
2014	4,130	395	415	256	4801	339	26	28	147	12	12	1459		1,290	12,108		13567	36		30	2,513	18		17	590
2015	3,978	244	245	160	4383	408	19	19	160	11	11	756		557	11,038		#VALUE!	30		20	2,389	19		13	560
2016	2,634	186	189	22	2845	388	17	17	150	9	9	482		511	10,266		10777	22		22	2,488	12		15	557
2017	1,583	248	236	0	1831	240	21	20	121	12	11	659		328	7,102		7761	27		16	2,008	14		13	495
2018	2,483	234	221	0	2717	275	20	19	121	9	8	680	1,043	855	6,873		7728	28		28	1,656	13		20	434
2019	2,235	139	136	28	2402	269	12	12	122	7	7	367	1,126	578	7,188		7766	12		18	2,229	7		12	540
2020	2,376	0	^	0	2376	247	0	^	104	0	^	282	1,360	648	6,868		7516	7		15	1,422	5		11	391
2021	2,419	0	^	0	2419	270	0	^	113	0	^	209	1,212	719	3,490		4209	8		22	845	3		17	292
2022	3,487	144	84	8	3,639	202	10	6	117	10	5		1,775	1412	7,029		8441	0	43	32	1,415		27	19	399
2023 12	1,140	0	^	3	1,143	116	0	^	78	0	^		0	0	3,161		3161	0	0	0	830		0	0	300
Data Sources and Notes:
	1 Canadian landings data prior to 2012 are from Canadian Tuna Database version 13.02.11
	2 Landings for Canadian fleet are based on salesslip weights (where available) or estimated weights in logbooks and are not expanded to account for non-reporting vessels (cf. Table 1).
	3 DFO estimates of Canadian landings in US ports are based on estimated weights in logbooks and are not expanded.
	4 NOAA estimates of landings data by Canadian fleet are derived from PacFIN and are not expanded.
	5 Other ports category is used for landings in non-US and non-Canada ports or where the landing port was unknown due to missing data. Occasional landings in American Samoa (Pago pago) are included early in the time series.
	6 DFO estimates of US landings in Canadian ports based on offloading fish slip data. These are not expanded likely to be a minimum bound because of incomplete fish slip data and reports from Canadian buyers/processors.
	7 Number of landing vessels may be slightly inaccurate due to landing slips with invalid or missing vessel IDs (0.15 to 3.9%)
	8 The majority of Canadian landings in 2004 did not include information on landing port but the majority of these landings were likely made in Canadian ports.
	9 U.S. DATA Source: Pacific Fisheries Information Network (PacFIN) retrieval dated , 03/28/2023. Number of landings estimated from unique vessel ID and Fish Ticket Dates
	10 Where both DFO and NOAA estimates exist, total is calculated by adding the greater of the two values
	11 USA landings in Other Ports (non-US West Coast & non-Canadian ports) include American Samoa and Hawaii
	12 Preliminary data subject to change. Canadian data from Canadian tuna database version 24.01.24
	13 U.S. landings data do not include <200 mt of albacore landings in Alaskan ports made by U.S. vessels during 1994-2015.
	14 DFO estimates of US landings in Canadian ports based port access applications submitted by US vessels. To be reviewed in detail by Data WG in 2024.
	* = no data, 0 = more than 0 mt but less than 1, ^ = confidential data (less than 3 vessels)

Table 3. Distribution of Canadian and U.S. Albacore Troll and Pole-and-Line Fleet Fishing Effort in the North Pacific Ocean 1
	Canadian Fleet 1							U.S. Fleet11
Year	Number of vessels/months allowed to fish in US EEZ	Number of vessels that fished in US EEZ 3	Number of vessels that fished in Canadian EEZ5	Vessel Months Used 4	Fishing Effort in US EEZ (boat fishing days) 2	Fishing Effort in Canadian EEZ (boat fishing days) 2	Fishing Effort on high seas (boat fishing days) 2	Number of vessels allowed to fish in Canadian EEZ 6	Number of vessels that fished in US EEZ7,8	Number of vessels that fished in Canadian EEZ 7, 8	Fishing Effort in US EEZ (boat fishing days) 10	Fishing Effort in Canadian EEZ (boat fishing days) 10	Fishing Effort on high seas (boat fishing days) 10, 11
1995	Unlimited	9	175	N/A	191	5,535	197	Unlimited	472	71	1,461	960	6,786
1996	Unlimited	83	90	N/A	4,222	2,813	1,130	Unlimited	658	6	3,574	14	10,229
1997	Unlimited	59	67	N/A	1,972	1,010	1,339	Unlimited	1160	46	4,520	570	10,838
1998	Unlimited	91	92	N/A	3,234	1,274	1,507	Unlimited	838	3	3,042	26	8,834
1999	Unlimited	176	162	N/A	4,316	1,689	965	Unlimited	772	19	12,560	273	7,859
2000	Unlimited	184	131	N/A	6,738	1,189	842	Unlimited	707	12	8,883	67	4,970
2001	Unlimited	207	176	N/A	7,697	1,754	570	Unlimited	929	15	9,280	75	5,560
2002	Unlimited	200	124	N/A	7,207	686	431	Unlimited	696	31	8,132	212	3,552
2003	Unlimited	177	119	N/A	7,111	892	425	Unlimited	782	9	10,919	126	2,395
2004	170 vessels or 680 vessel fishing months	202	172	627	7,551	2,125	266	170 vessels or 680 vessel fishing months	727	21	11,079	213	1,184
2005	140 vessels or 560 vessel fishing months	154	196	410	5,309	2,940	315	140 vessels or 560 vessel fishing months	552	31	9,943	316	914
2006	125 vessels or 500 vessel fishing months	139	148	396	4,500	1,401	342	125 vessels or 500 vessel fishing months	615	32	9,883	96	1,043
2007	94 vessels or 376 vessel fishing months	119	191	368	4,809	2,081	12	94 vessels or 376 vessel fishing months	651	14	10,713	135	233
2008	94 vessels or 376 vessel fishing months	122	79	338	4,993	360	420	94 vessels or 376 vessel fishing months	477	39	7,947	327	1,031
2009	110	107	116	N/A	5,722	675	143	Historical level	655	27	12,002	262	719
2010	110	109	153	N/A	3,848	2,887	559	Historical level	609	51	10,542	342	1,961
2011	110	108	146	N/A	6,549	1,771	285	Historical level	640	30	13,619	117	941
2012	0	0	174	N/A	0	5,084	890	0	816	^	14,636	^	380
2013	45 vessels	43	181	N/A	1,870	4,299	296	Historical level	703	21	12,242	229	452
2014	45 vessels	44	156	N/A	1,774	2,944	27	Historical level	617	35	11,425	659	116
2015	45 vessels	43	161	N/A	1,435	3,792	17	Historical level	574	39	10,770	549	186
2016	45 vessels	43	151	N/A	1,892	3,407	60	Historical level	569	31	12,280	251	213
2017	45 vessels	45	101	N/A	2,865	1,343	770	Historical level	518	15	11,293	39	1,287
2018	45 vessels	45	118	N/A	2,228	1,924	44	Historical level	452	26	10,255	476	363
2019	45 vessels	42	119	N/A	1,621	2,008	253	Historical level	554	16	10,108	416	546
2020	45 vessels	34	104	N/A	573	2,542	187	Historical level	404	34	7,117	745	819
2021	45 vessels	41	113	N/A	937	2,664	86	Historical level	311	54	5,231	894	587
2022	45 vessels	39	117	N/A	1,134	2,849	90	Historical level	433	66	6,983	603	271
2023 9	0 vessels	0	79	N/A	0	1,851	249	0	319	3	3,442	4	1302
Data Sources and Notes:
	1 Effort in different zones are based on logbook records, where locations are self-reported by vessels.
	2 Estimates of Canadian effort in boat fishing days are expanded using the methodology described in Stocker et al. (2007: CTRFAS 2701). 1995-2011 data from Canadian Tuna Database version 13.02.11
	3 Number of vessels that fished in US EEZ: 1995-2008 data from Canadian Tuna Database version 13.02.11, 2009-2011 data from DFO Pacific Licensing System
	4 Vessel Months during 1995-2011 used data from Canadian tuna database v. 13.02.11
	5 Number of vessels that fished in Canadian EEZ: 1995-2011 data from Tuna Database version 13.02.11
	6 Although the historical level of fishing effort for the US fleet was permitted in the Canadian EEZ during 2009-2011, the historical level of fishing effort is not presently quantified.
	7 Number of US vessels that fished in US or Canadian EEZs are not expanded.
	8 Number of US vessels that fished in US or Canadian EEZs refers to vessels that recorded fishing days in those zones in their logbooks and do not include vessels that only had transit days. Where logbook coverage rate is less than 100%, it is assumed that all US vessels that landed fish, had fished in the US EEZ
	9 Preliminary data subject to change. Canadian data from Canadian tuna database version 24.01.24
	10 Estimates of US effort in US EEZ, Canadian EEZ and high seas in boat fishing days are expanded and calculated by multiplying the proportion of reported logbook effort in each zone by the estimated annual effort. Estimation of annual effort has changed in 2017 (Documented in ISC working paper ISC17/STATWG/WP-1)
	11 Proportion of US effort in high seas zone was estimated from logbook data, and includes effort in U.S. EEZ off Alaska.
	* = no data, ^ = confidential data (less than 3 vessels)

U.S Fishery Data		Canadian Fishery Data
The Data Exchange Template was designed to provide relevant data to the delegations for the treaty between the United States and Canada on Pacific Coast Albacore Tuna vessels and Port Privileges. It has been agreed that the time-series would be constrained to the years for which all of the data are reliable and comparable; therefore, not all data considered reliable has been provided. The sources are self-reported logbooks from albacore harvesters and fish tickets provided by the States of Washington, Oregon and California to the PacFIN database.		The Data Exchange Template was designed to provide relevant data to the delegations for the treaty between the United States and Canada on Pacific Coast Albacore Tuna vessels and Port Privileges. It has been agreed that the time-series would be constrained to the years for which all of the data are reliable and comparable. Canadian data sources include logbooks completed by albacore harvestors turned end at the end of the fishing season, sales slips recording the landing weight of all albacore on a trip, and hail records, which identify vessels participating in the fishery and the zone in which those vessels are fishing. Logbooks, sales slips from domestic buyers, and at-sea trans-shipment slips, completed at the time fish are landed and sold, must be returned to Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) for entry into the Canadian albacore tuna catch-effort database (Stocker et al. 2007). Entering new data into the database creates a new version of the database on that date. Canadian data are always reported with the database version number, which reflects the date of data entry (YY.MM.DD). For example, Database version 12.12.01 was created 01 Dec 2012.
While a U.S. fishery for north Pacific albacore has existed since the early 1900’s, the collection of logbook data began in 1951 as a voluntary program. In 2004 the fishery management plan for highly migratory species made logbook submission mandatory for the albacore fleet operating in or adjacent to the U.S. exclusive economic zone thereby increasing the coverage rate considerably. The average coverage rate based on the ratio of trip landings weights recorded in logbooks to the sum of landings from PacFIN and foreign ports is 40% for years 1996 through 2004  and 78% for 2005 through 2011. Although similar coverage rates of around 40% prior to  1995, the template is constrained by the year for which Canada can provide reliable data.		The Canadian fishery for north Pacific albacore tuna (Thunnus alalunga) began in 1939. Total catch data from 1939 to 1951 are based on landings and were estimated by converting canned weights shipped by Canadian canneries to landed weights using standard conversion factors for salmon and were reported in annual statistical reports. These data are not reliable estimates of activity by the Canadian fishery because: (1) albacore landed in United States ports were not included in the estimates, (2) albacore imported from foreign sources by Canadian processors were included in these estimates, and (3) no measure of effort is available for this period. In addition, the spatial distribution of catch and effort is unknown beyond narratives in the annual reports noting that catches were occurring in BC and WA waters.
Since 1974 there have been attempts to coordinate State landings data. First through the Albacore Coordination Committee and later through the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission’s database PacFIN. Within the PacFIN system, Fish Ticket data are considered complete for years since 1981. Again, data has been constrained by the year 1995 due to limitations in Canadian data.		A sales slip system was implemented in 1951 and data compiled from these records were used to estimate Canadian total annual albacore catch until 1994. This system provides a better estimate of total catch because it captures fish landed at all Canadian ports, but it still underestimates catch because sales slips do not account for albacore landed at US or other foreign ports nor do they fully account for direct sales of albacore to the public, i.e., dockside sales. Effort data were not compiled nor reported for this period. Although the sales slip system has been used to capture some of the spatial and temporal resolution of landings in other domestic, these data were not compiled nor reported for albacore.
		Fishery statistics reported since 1995 are based on data compiled in the Canadian Albacore Tuna Catch and Effort Database from hails, sales slips, and logbooks. These data are considered the most reliable estimates of fishery activity by the Canadian fleet because: (1) they account for fish caught and landed in foreign waters, (2) they have high spatial and temporal resolution in catch and effort (daily position by vessel), (3) sales slip weights provide independent validation of logbook data, and (4) data are obtained from all known vessels active in the fishery in a given year.