The MSC (Marine Stewardship Council) has welcomed the decision by the Parties to the Nauru Agreement (PNA) to proceed with the full assessment of 40% of their skipjack tuna fishery.
The decision to go forward follows a pre-assessment by Moody Marine Ltd. and is only with the elements of the fishery that catch free schools of tuna i.e. those that do not use Fish Aggregating Devises (FADs). This distinct section of the fishery catches approximately 330,000 metric tonnes of skipjack tuna per year in the Western and Central Pacific.
Skipjack tuna from PNA waters is mostly canned and sold to European and North American markets.
PNA Director Dr. Transform Aqorau says: “The PNA exists to maximise the economic benefits to Pacific Islanders from sustainable management of our tuna. Seeking MSC certification is an important step towards this goal so that consumers of our tuna can recognize the value of our work here to control access to tuna resources for the benefits of our PNA members. We look forward to the MSC assessment.”
Rupert Howes, Chief Executive of the MSC comments: “This announcement is a truly historic one, as it brings us one step further towards providing certified sustainable choices for all key commercial fish species. If the assessment process finds the fishery meets the MSC standard, a significant portion of the skipjack tuna caught by PNA states will be eligible to bear the MSC ecolabel. This will be an important milestone towards satisfying some of the still largely unfulfilled demand for credible, certified sustainable tuna in Europe and North America.”
