Supplies of sustainable tuna are growing in the Atlantic as fisheries rise to new challenges.
In case you missed the “sold out” Atlantic Ocean and MSC certified tuna species session at Seafood Expo in Barcelona last month, here are the highlights:
- In her introduction,
Laura Rodriguez Zugasti
, MSC Global Tuna Group and Program Director, Spain & Portugal, flagged up the ongoing rise of
Marine Stewardship Council (MSC)
tuna. From the supply side, close to 50% of the global catch is engaged in our program, with 1.6 million tonnes of certified catch. From the demand side, in 2023/24 the volume of labelled tuna will exceed 200,000 tonnes driven by growing commitment of retailers and brands.
- Michael Marriot, MSC’s Senior Program Director for Africa, the Middle East and South Asia (AMESA), talked about the advances that MSC tuna has been making in Africa. He outlined sustainability challenges in the region such as data limitations, inadequate management, unrestricted access, overfishing and little enforcement. The MSC Standard, together with pre-certification and pathways tools, is being used to address these challenges. No national fleets are certified yet, but three fisheries are in Full Assessment, four in Fishery Improvement Projects (FIPs), and one in In-Transition to MSC (ITM) program.
-
Borja Soroa
, President of Spanish Tuna Association, Anabac, explained their roadmap to sustainability. Anabac is composed of 21 purse seine vessels belonging to the companies
ATUNSA
,
PEVASA
and
Echebastar
, certified for yellowfin and skipjack tuna in the Atlantic and for skipjack in the Indian Ocean. Since 2012 the companies have been committed to a Code of Conduct which includes scientific projects to reduce impact on rays and sharks and has promoted the use of non-entangling and bio-FADs for several years now.
-
Caroline Gamblin
, MSC Senior Fisheries Outreach Manager in France, showcased four French tuna fisheries engaged in the program:
Orthongel
skipjack and yellowfin in the Atlantic; CFTO skipjack in the Indian Ocean;
Coopérative Sathoan
bluefin in the Mediterranean, and albacore and yellowfin in French Polynesia. Two fisheries are in Full Assessment, including
SAPMER
skipjack in the Indian Ocean. It was announced during the session that the French albacore fleet in the North Atlantic is working towards joining the existing certificate of Spanish fishery vessels certified since 2016.
-
Michel Goujon
, Director of ORTHONGEL which has 9 purse seine vessels certified in the Atlantic, raised the improvements needed at ICCAT (International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna) level to assure sustainability of yellowfin and skipjack stocks in the Atlantic. Goujon also presented the BEHAVE program, which aims to reduce the impact on sharks and mobula rays through best practice development and better understanding of their habitat, behaviour and migration.
If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to the speakers directly or you can add queries and reflections in the comment box below and we'll do our best to respond.
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