The Spanish tuna fleet has begun the process of enabling canned tuna distribution and processing companies to earn the label of responsibly fished tuna from certification company, AENOR.
The fleet, acting jointly with Organización de Productores Asociados de Grandes Atuneros Congeladores (OPAGAC), an association of nine tuna seiner fishing shipowners, announced last October its commitment to having the entire tuna business from sea to land certified with AENOR's 'Atún de Pesca Responsible (APR)' label. The fleet first earned certification for its seagoing activity in July 2017.
The AENOR Conform logo is added to tins containing tuna from vessels certified under UNE 195006 for responsibly fished tuna and which belong to a comprehensive fishery improvement project (FIP). The AENOR Conform responsibly fished tuna label is the result of a merger of the two voluntary FIPs the fleet has been engaged in since 2016, the first in tandem with the World Wildlife Fund.
The UNE standard certified by AENOR is the first to guarantee, amongst other things, compliance with the working conditions established by the International Labour Organisation in Convention 188 of the Work in Fishing Convention.
This certificate guarantees that the fish has been caught by companies and vessels belonging to OPAGAC, and is backed by stringent social, labour and maritime safety standards high above what the law currently requires.
According to Julio Morón, managing director of OPAGAC, “No fishery has a future if it doesn’t work sustainably with the sea and deal responsibly with its employees and the economic and social development of its fishing zones.
"With this standard we’ve become the first fleet to certify this approach to responsible fishing, and we’re placing the decision to support it in the hands of consumers.”
