Poissons pélagiques des Marquises

Marquesas Islands are in an oceanic area with intense phytoplankton activity whose origin is not yet clearly identified. This abundance of phytoplankton induces an exceptional trophic richness particularly well suited to the presence of pelagic fish. The industrial fishing activity in the EEZ of French Polynesia is made exclusively by tuna longliners. Purse seine fishing activity is prohibited within the EEZ since 1997. The long distance fishing fleets from Japan and Korea concluded fishing agreement with French Polynesia Authority for the period 1988 to 2000. Fishing yields in Marquesas area are two to three times higher than in the other archipelagos of French Polynesia. The Ecotap research programme (1994-1999) was developed to study and characterize the habitat of the three main tuna species in the northern half part of the EEZ, from the surface to 500 m depth, using instrumented longline. These scientific data collected, complemented by the work carried out on a larger scale in the international fishery organizations (RFMOs) such as WCPFC and IATTC give a good view of the biological and fishery characteristics of the main tuna species in the Marquesas. The synthesis performed on the rays and sharks shows that the Marquesas archipelago is an area of major interest for selachians with an exceptional density of manta rays. The Pelagic life of the Marquesas Islands is very abundant as evidenced by the presence of all the links in the food chain from plankton to the largest ocean predators.