The MSC has received objections from WWF and Pew to the proposed certification of the Usufuku Honten Northeast Atlantic bluefin tuna fishery. The MSC points out that contrary to some reports, the fishery is not certified to the MSC standard.
At the centre of the objections is the recommendation of independent assessor Control Union Pesca Ltd to certify the Usufuku Honten Northeast Atlantic bluefin tuna fishery to the MSC Fisheries Standard. The longline fishery, which is a single vessel with a quota to catch 200-400 bluefin tuna in the Eastern Atlantic, is in the final stages of independent assessment.
Longliner Dai-ichi Shofuku-maru is operated by Usufuku Honten, a company established in 1882 as a fish wholesaler. In the 1930s it started fishing in the Japanese EEZ and subsequently on the high seas. Since the 1980s, the company has focused its fishing operations on the pelagic longline tuna fishery globally.
Dai-ichi Shofuku-maru operates year-round in the Atlantic and catches bluefin tuna in October and November.
This is the first time any independent assessment of bluefin stocks in the Eastern Atlantic has been carried out using the MSC’s standard for sustainable fishing.
Objections raised by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and Pew are being reviewed by an independent adjudicator who follows a formal process for objections. The independent adjudicator will decide whether to accept, dismiss or request clarification from WWF.
“Scientific evidence on bluefin recovery in the Eastern Atlantic is encouraging,” said Dr Rohan Currey, Chief Science and Standards Officer at the MSC.
“The historic overexploitation of bluefin globally shows why it is so important to understand and incentivise the sustainable management of bluefin fisheries. The whole assessment process, which is ongoing for this fishery, happens entirely independently of the MSC so we can’t say what the overall outcome will be.”
