A French artisanal longline and handline fishery representing small Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus) boats has entered assessment against the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) Fisheries Standard.
The fishery targets Atlantic bluefin tuna on the Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean stock. It is made up of vessels under 18m that fish in the Western Mediterranean region (French EEZ) mainly in the Gulf of Lion and Upper Corsica. Working from April to December, the artisanal fishery lands around 200t of bluefin tuna per year and sells mainly to local markets. The boats are grouped under the brand "Thon rouge de ligne – pêche artisanale".
To be certified to the MSC Standard, the fishery must prove that the stock it is operating on is in good health and that an appropriate fishing strategy exists to ensure that all fishing effort on that stock is at a sustainable level.
Mediterranean monitoring
The fishery is the second bluefin tuna fishery to enter MSC assessment. The third party independent assessment will be led by Control Union Pesca (CUP).
There are three different species of bluefin tuna in the world. Atlantic bluefin tuna is one, for which there are two stocks: the Western Atlantic stock, and the Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean stock. The stocks mix in the Atlantic Ocean.
In the Mediterranean, Atlantic bluefin tuna is fished by about twenty countries. Due to overfishing in the 1990 and 2000s, and concerns raised by environmental groups, fishers, businesses and the general public, its fishing is strictly supervised by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas.
