International non-profit Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) is calling on member governments of the Western Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) to pass important conservation management measures for tuna stocks at the 19th Regular Session of the Commission, taking place in Da Nang, Vietnam, from 27 November to 3 December.
According to MSC, these measures will safeguard the long-term sustainability of the world’s most important tuna stocks by committing fishing nations to pre-agreed actions to safeguard tuna stocks should they ever decline below sustainable levels.
The organisation said progress on agreeing harvest strategies is increasingly critical to the ongoing certification of these fisheries to its standard for sustainable fishing, adding that a lack of progress in delivering workplans for the implementation of harvest strategies is eroding the rationale for tuna fisheries in the Western Central Pacific Ocean (WCPO) meeting minimum requirements of MSC certification for available harvest control rules (HCRs).
To ensure ongoing MSC certification, it said WCPFC delegates must reach agreement on two key conservation management measures, which would result in the implementation of a harvest strategy for skipjack tuna and demonstrate progress towards delivering harvest strategies for other tuna stocks within the region.
The outcomes of the meeting will be considered collectively by the Conformity Assessment Bodies (CABs) responsible the certification of all 33 MSC-certified tuna fisheries in the WCPO to determine whether they provide the evidence needed to support ongoing certification.
“Failure by the WCPFC to implement harvest strategies would jeopardise the long-term health of these stocks and undermine the progress made by WCPO fisheries, which have worked hard to improve their sustainability and meet the MSC’s global standard for environmentally responsible and sustainable fishing,” said Rupert Howes, Chief Executive of the MSC.
“These fisheries, which include skipjack, yellowfin, albacore and bigeye tuna in the Western Central Pacific represent the majority of this economically vital catch. The call for harvest strategies is being reiterated by leading retailers, tuna brands, the fishing industry and NGOs worldwide.
“Effective fisheries management, including harvest strategies, forms a cornerstone of the United Nation’s code of conduct for sustainable fishing and is central to delivering the globally agreed Sustainable Development Goal 14 to safeguard life below water. As a result, we hope to see a strong endorsement for the conservation measures tabled for negotiation at next week’s meeting.”
In addition to continuing to meet minimum requirements, all tuna fisheries in the WCPFC face timebound conditions to implement stronger harvest strategies with well-defined HCRs by June 2023 to remain certified to version 2 of the MSC Fisheries Standard.
MSC advised that an agreement to adopt harvest strategies for skipjack at the upcoming meeting could close this condition for MSC-certified skipjack fisheries, while for certified fisheries targeting other tuna species, convincing progress towards agreeing HCRs could provide the opportunity to remain certified beyond June 2023 by adopting requirements within the new MSC Fisheries Standard.
These new requirements allow an additional five years for fisheries to implement state-of-the-art harvest strategies, while adopting the other significant improvements included in the new standard.
MSC representatives will be observing the WCPFC meeting.
