Alex Seafood (PVT) Ltd yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares) and swordfish (Xiphias gladius) have been certified Friend of the Sea.
This small 20 vessel fleet in Negombo, Sri Lanka uses the multihook deepset line fishing method.
The latest IOTC stock assessment for yellowfin tuna reports that the stock is not being overfished. The multihook fishery catches only mature yellowfin tuna which have already laid millions of eggs and complies with given catch limits, thus reducing its impact on the biomass.
Approximately 8-10% bycatch was observed during the audit and reported according to scientific studies. This bycatch was composed of 4-5% thalpath, 2-3% swordfish and 2-3% marlin, all of which was either traded or returned to the sea alive. There was no evidence of shark fins, marine mammals, turtles, red listed or endangered species.
In receiving certification Kushal Weerasekara, the Quality Control Officer of Alex Seafood stated, “I am pleased, this means we can prove our sustainability efforts to retailers and end consumers.”
