John West Australia, WWF-Australia and the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) have joined forces with Pacifical to help end unsustainable fishing methods within the canned tuna industry in Australia.
The alliance will see a dramatic increase in the availability of MSC certified sustainably sourced tuna in supermarkets. Almost half will now be labelled as ‘Pacifical’ tuna, a brand supplied by the world’s largest sustainable tuna purse seine fishery.
Dermot O’Gorman, CEO of WWF Australia, said: “Our oceans are in crisis due to a history of mismanagement by humanity. As a result of this collaboration, Australians will now see over 100 million cans of clearly labelled Pacifical MSC certified sustainably source tuna in supermarket.”
“The magnitude of this, affecting 43% of Australia’s canned tuna, makes this a world first,” he concluded.
The skipjack tuna is being sourced from the world’s largest purse seine fishery – Pacifical – controlled by the Parties to the Naura Agreement (PNA) which unites eight Pacific Island nations in the pursuit of tuna conservation and management.
Patrick Caleo, director of MSC Asia Pacific, said: “This is the largest offering of MSC labelled canned tuna in the world. By completely transforming their supply chain to source from the PNA fishery, John West is leading the way to help ensure our oceans stay health and teeming with life for generations to come."
Populations of fish species utilised by humans have fallen by half. However John West Australia is confident its position will increase awareness globally.
Graham Dugdale, executive director of John West – Commercial, said: “In 2012 we pledged that by the end of 2015, we would only source purse seine caught skipjack tuna caught using independently verified FAD-free methods”.
“After three years of extensive research and close collaboration with Pacifical, MSC and WWF, I am proud to announce that this target has been met and exceeded. Not only are we sourcing FAD-free but we have made sure it is MSC certified sustainable and traceable from ocean to can,” he concluded.
