The National Fisheries Authority says tuna in Papua New Guinea waters are now being exploited in a manageable way.
This follows a report by scientists raising the alarm over fishing practices.
Scientists told a recent meeting of the newly established tuna commission that bigeye and yellowfin tuna were threatened by overfishing.
The NFA's records of the catch for bigeye and yellowfin tuna for 2002 show they more than doubled last year.
However, despite the large catch the NFA maintains it is managing the highly migratory species.
Annually, tuna catches in PNG are as high as 300,000 tonnes and have a market value of over 250-million US dollars.
