Seafood buyers urge South Pacific action

“We wish to see the Commission accelerate the fight against the IUU fishing in the Convention area by implementing appropriate procedures and measures to identify infringements and violations by vessels on the high seas,” the companies wrote, in a letter submitted to the Heads of Delegation of Members and Cooperating Non-Contracting Parties (CNCPs) to the SPRFMO.

The letter asks the state members and CNCPs to take the following actions at the 12th Annual SPRFMO meeting:

• Support the introduction of labour issues to the SPRFMO agenda, including the creation of a specialised working group and the establishment of the first Conservation and Management Measure (CMM) on guidelines for crew members’ safety and equitable treatment, as proposed by the US, Ecuador, Australia and New Zealand
• Amend the jumbo flying squid CMM to progressively increase onboard observer coverage to 20%, as proposed by Australia and New Zealand
• Fully discuss and consider the five proposals on increasing monitoring, control and surveillance to combat IUU fishing in the jumbo flying squid fishery

Also in the letter, the seafood buyers – including High Liner Foods, Costco Wholesale and Aldi – note that, to date, SPRFMO has not included any fishing vessels on the IUU list. They stress that more transparent information must be made available to ensure full traceability of the products sold in final markets.

“After more than a decade of regulation, the jumbo flying squid fishery – the largest fishery by volume managed by the SPRFMO – still needs appropriate monitoring of transshipments, observer coverage, and ratification by member states and CNCPs of Port State Measures Agreement (PSMA).”

The letter continues: “Seafood companies share responsibility for ensuring that human rights are respected in the value chains they participate in, as declared by the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and in new human rights due diligence regulations proposed by various countries. Therefore, we consider it fundamental to include a solid programme in the SPRFMO agenda to address labour issues and guarantee decent conditions for fishers and workers in squid fleets.”

The 17 state members of the SPRFMO Commission, including the US, China and the EU are meeting from 29 January to 2 February to consider proposals to improve the jumbo flying squid conservation and management measures. If adopted, these actions will improve transparency and controls to prevent IUU fishing in the world’s most important squid stock.