Action is urgently needed to prevent the depletion of Pacific tuna stocks, warns the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF).
The global not-for-profit organisation has issued a position statement to the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC), calling for the urgent adoption of harvest strategies for certain stocks in the region and warning that fisheries are running out of time to meet a 2023 Marine Stewardship Council deadline.
“WCPFC once led the way on harvest strategies,” said ISSF president Susan Jackson. “Today it is falling behind other regional fisheries management organisations (RFMOs) and is now the only tuna RFMO without a harvest strategy in place.
“WCPFC member countries must urgently adopt harvest strategies for Western Pacific skipjack and Northern albacore tuna and accelerate the adoption of one for South Pacific albacore next year,” she added.
Harvest strategies provide pre-agreed rules for managing fisheries resources and are crucial for the long term, sustainable management of fisheries.
ISSF is specifically asking WCPFC to adopt comprehensive harvest strategies for Western Pacific skipjack and Northern albacore and develop a harvest strategy for South Pacific albacore that will consider the entire South Pacific stock in the operating models.
In addition to harvest strategies, the ISSF is also asking the commission to adopt interim targets for yellowfin and bigeye tuna along with a definition of biodegradable FADs and categories of biodegradable FADs this year. It is also urging action of an electronic monitoring programme and that all sharks be landed with their fins attached.
