The International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF) on Thursday eased restrictions it placed on transactions in bigeye tuna harvested from the eastern Pacific Ocean (EPO). ISSF says measurable progress has been made toward science-based management and stock conservation.
“The consensus built among parties to the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC) is a strong sign that the realities of science are beginning to impact the decision making process of nations charged with managing tuna stocks in the eastern Pacific Ocean,” said ISSF President Susan Jackson.
In April, ISSF red-listed EPO bigeye and called for companies to refrain from buying the species if the IATTC did not adopt conservation measures by September.
Now, ISSF calls for companies to only refrain from transactions in tuna caught by any vessel not complying with IATTC Resolution C-09-01. The resolution includes a purse seine fishing closure to last from 59 to 73 days that, along with other allied measures, will reduce fishing effort by roughly 20 percent below current levels for each of the next three years, according to IATTC staff analyses.
In addition, a large area in the Pacific off the Galapagos Islands will be closed for one month to protect young bigeye tuna. Longline catches of adult bigeye will be reduced up to 9 percent.
“This is a very important start but we’re far from the finish line,” said ISSF Board member Dr. William Fox, VP of the World Wildlife Fund-U.S. “The nations did not adopt the full recommendations of the IATTC scientific staff to reduce fishing effort by 30 percent, so we’ll have to determine if these measures have the desired impact or if more needs to be done.”
Earlier this week, the ISSF reported that member companies had committed to global standards for tracing tuna from capture to plate that will help keep illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) tuna off of store shelves.
“Being able to trace a product back to its source benefits the environment, industry and consumers,” said Jackson. “Traceability is critical to conservation since poaching tuna creates a gap in information, which negatively impacts meaningful, science-based management measures.”
Processors are required to keep detailed records documenting the name and flag of catcher and transshipping vessels, fish species, ocean of capture corresponding to tuna Regional Fisheries Management Organization (RFMO) area, fishing trip dates, fishing gear employed, date the company took ownership of the fish and each species by weight.
