The Parties to the Nauru Agreement (PNA) free-school skipjack & yellowfin tuna fishery has been recertified by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC).
Awarded after 24 objections presented by the IPNLF were analysed and dismissed by an independent adjudicator, the five-year certificate confirms the fishery, which operates in Pacific Islands Nations waters, meets the criteria of the MSC.
Referring to the tuna marketing company jointly set up by the 8 PNA countries in 2011, PNA stated: “The MSC certification granted to the PNA skipjack and yellowfin tuna fishery endorses PACIFICAL products worldwide as one of the most sustainable tuna choices, and reassures our PNA people that the arduous and consistent work being put into managing the world’s biggest tuna fishery in a sustainable way, is being valued and recognized.”
Free-school tuna caught in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of Tokelau is now also eligible for MSC certification, meaning the total area covered by the fishery now covers almost 15m km2 of water.
Tokelau has been a cooperative member of the PNA since 2012. Estimated tuna catches in their zone amounted to 72,330 MT of skipjack and 106,041 MT of yellowfin in 2015.
“We welcome the tiny territory of Tokelau, whose Exclusive Economic Zone has been used to enhance the MSC unit of certification. This is massive for this tiny economy which is almost exclusively reliant on tuna revenues for income,” said PNA CEO Ludwig Kumoru.
