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ISSF Report: 15 Tuna Stocks Not Meeting Criteria for Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) Sustainability Standard

Written by svanouse on . Posted in News, Press Releases.

Independent fisheries scientists in a March 2020 report from the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF) found that four out of 19 major commercial tuna stocks worldwide are being managed to avoid overfishing and to maintain target stock biomass levels: North Atlantic Albacore, Western Pacific Skipjack, South Pacific Albacore, and Indian Ocean Skipjack. These four stocks earned a passing score against the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) Fisheries Standard on its Principle 1 on “Sustainable Fish Stocks.”

There are 19 commercial #tuna stocks worldwide. Four are being managed to prevent #overfishing. Click To Tweet

MSC is an independent, international, non-profit organization that oversees a program to assess wild-capture fisheries and certify them as “sustainable” if they meet its Fisheries Standard criteria. In the January 2019 edition of the ISSF report, five stocks passed Principle 1 (Eastern Pacific Yellowfin no longer does).

ISSF 2020-09: An Evaluation of the Sustainability of Global Tuna Stocks Relative to Marine Stewardship Council Criteria attributes 15 other tuna stocks’ inability to pass MSC Principle 1 to poor stock status, the lack of well-defined harvest control rules (HCRs), and the lack of effective tools to control harvest.

Notable Report Findings

One of the 19 stocks — North Pacific Albacore — triggered the implementation of well-defined HCRs, and there has been some HCR progress on other tuna stocks by all tuna Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (RFMOs). RFMOs are governing bodies whose member nations are responsible for setting catch limits, monitoring the health of stocks, and regulating the right to fish. However, HCRs often have not been implemented until rebuilding is required.

  • Atlantic Ocean Yellowfin’s Principle 1 score improved since the last reporting period, but the scores of Indian Ocean Bigeye and Indian Ocean Albacore both declined. However, data on the latter has improved in quality and should be sufficient to support a harvest strategy.
  • Uncertainty in assessments remains a concern in the Eastern Pacific, as the 2019 stock assessment of Eastern Pacific Yellowfin found inadequacies in both the model and data, which hinders stock management advice and harvest control rule actions. 

ISSF’s report was authored by Paul A. H. Medley, Jo Gascoigne, and Jo Akroyd.

About the Report

An Evaluation of the Sustainability of Global Tuna Stocks takes a consistent, comprehensive approach to scoring tuna stocks against certain components of the MSC standard. The MSC is a global certification program for fisheries.

The report — updated regularly since it was first published in 2013, and conveniently organized by individual tuna stock and tuna RFMO — is designed to:

  • Provide a basis for comparing between stock scores and tuna RFMO scores as assessed by the same experts
  • Become a useful source document for future tuna certifications or in the establishment of tuna Fishery Improvement Projects (FIPs)
  • Prioritize ISSF projects and advocacy efforts against initiatives that will improve low performance indicator scores

The scores in the report focus on stock status (MSC Principle 1) and the international management aspects relevant to RFMOs (part of MSC Principle 3) and are based on publicly available fishery and RFMO data. Each of these Principles is evaluated in relationship to Performance Indicators (PIs) within each Principle. The Evaluation report also includes detailed remarks on each stock, evaluations of the four RFMOs, and comprehensive reference citations.

The report does not address bluefin tuna stocks.

MSC Principle 1

The MSC Principle 1 states: “A fishery must be conducted in a manner that does not lead to over-fishing or depletion of the exploited populations and, for those populations that are depleted, the fishery must be conducted in a manner that demonstrably leads to their recovery.”

Regarding stocks receiving passing scores:

  • Among seven tuna stocks in the Atlantic Ocean, one received an overall principle-level passing score: Northern Albacore.
  • Among eight tuna stocks in the Pacific Ocean, two received overall principle-level passing scores: Western Skipjack and Southern Albacore.
  • Among four stocks in the Indian Ocean, one received an overall principle-level passing score: Skipjack.

Regarding stocks receiving failing scores:

  • In the Pacific, six stocks received overall principle-level failing scores: Western Yellowfin, Eastern Yellowfin, Northern Albacore, Eastern Bigeye, Eastern Skipjack and Western Bigeye.
  • In the Indian Ocean, Yellowfin, Bigeye and Albacore all received overall principle-level failing scores.
  • In the Atlantic, Yellowfin, Bigeye, Western Skipjack, Eastern Skipjack, Southern Albacore and Mediterranean Albacore all received principle-level failing scores.
  • The two stocks that require rebuilding are Atlantic Bigeye and Indian Ocean Yellowfin.

See a graphic showing MSC Principle 1 averages from February 2013-March 2020.

MSC Principle 3

The MSC Principle 3 states: “The fishery is subject to an effective management system that respects local, national and international laws and standards and incorporates institutional and operational frameworks that require use of the resource to be responsible and sustainable.”

One tuna RFMO — the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC) — received unconditional passing scores for all seven performance indicators under Principle 3.

All four RFMOs received overall principle-level passing scores from the authors.

See a graphic showing MSC Principle 3 averages from December 2013-March 2020.

While the report focuses on tuna stock status and sustainability as well as on RFMO policies, it does not address national or bilateral fishing jurisdictions, gear- or fleet-specific ecosystem impacts, or specific fisheries’ ecosystems — all of which are also considered within the MSC assessment methodology.

Since 2011, ISSF has been an active stakeholder in MSC tuna fishery assessments and certifications. ISSF’s strategic objective is to develop and implement verifiable, science-based practices, commitments and international management measures to help all tuna fisheries become capable of meeting the MSC certification standard without conditions.

Investigating Collaborative Solutions to Protect Threatened Manta Rays

Written by svanouse on . Posted in Blogs, News.

The world’s largest ray is also one of its most vulnerable. Manta rays, and their close cousins the devil rays, are incredible animals. They have large brains and complex social behaviors. They are also gentle giants that glide through tropical waters and attract SCUBA divers from across the world. As fascinating and valuable as mobulid rays (manta and devil rays) are, they also are vulnerable. Mobulids are threatened by a long list of problems, but one of the most widespread is posed by fisheries bycatch, or unintentional capture in fishing nets. In tropical tuna purse seines — the large circular fishing nets that comprise 60% of the global tuna catch — mobulid rays are one of the most common bycatch group.

  • 430_Melissa-Cronin_12.12.19_Credit_Melissa-Cronin

  • 430_Melissa-Cronin_12.12.19_Credit_Stefany-Rojas

  • Mobulid-ray-tissue

  • Ray-2

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Approximately 13,000 mobulid rays are captured in global tune purse-seine fisheries each year. In the Eastern Tropical Pacific purse seine fishery in particular, where observers record 100% of tuna fishing sets, about one in every six sets contains a mobulid ray.

This bycatch threatens mobulid populations. It also presents an enormous conservation opportunity. If we can mitigate mobulid bycatch in tuna fisheries, we can make huge gains for this at-risk and charismatic species.  

Collaboration for Conservation

I spent much of my childhood in a small fishing village on an island in the Gulf of Maine, splashing through tide pools and watching lobstermen haul in their traps. Seeing how carefully managed fisheries can provide sustainable livelihoods, local food, and rich culture intrigued me. But it was also an introduction to the complex problems that can come with fishing.

After a few years spent covering marine conservation as an environmental journalist, I returned to academia — and to my roots in fisheries. At the Conservation Action Lab at the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC), I’m working on an interdisciplinary dissertation focused on mobulid ray bycatch in fisheries.

Working with onboard observers, my collaborators and I — including the Manta Trust, the Monterey Bay Aquarium, and the Molecular Ecology of Fishes Lab at UCSC — have been collecting small tissue samples of mobulid tails. From these tiny tails, we can unlock a world of information about rays’ population structure, genetic diversity, and a crucial metric called “effective population size.” These metrics give us a sense of which populations may be most at risk, and where we need to focus conservation action first.

Finally, I am also drawing on the social sciences to produce a policy gap analysis, which can help inform how changes in fishing policy could reduce bycatch pressure on vulnerable shark and ray species.

Co-creating Fisheries Solutions

Through my work with tuna purse-seine observers, who send footage of mobulid ray releases, my collaborators and I have noticed that crews’ release methods for mobulids range widely: from simply releasing animals by hand, to using a modified net to set manta rays free, and even to employing elaborate hand-made “manta stretchers.”

These methods offer potentially low-cost but effective ways to release animals quickly and with the least damage possible — factors likely to increase mobulid survival rates and lessen the impact of bycatch on their populations.

While these innovations appear promising, none have been formally developed or thoroughly tested. My Grand-Prize-winning project in the ISSF Seafood Sustainability Contest seeks to work with vessel skippers and fisheries observers to incentivize the development and refinement of these methods.

Over the next year, we will be hosting workshops with purse-seine skippers, observers, and scientists, as well as with the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC). At these workshops, we will work to develop prototypes and methodologies to avoid catching mobulids in the first place — or to reduce the rate of mortality for bycaught mobulids. Working in small teams, participants will vote to identify the most promising designs, and two of these designs will be selected for implementation on board.

Testing for Conservation Success

Finally, I will work with a group of Ecuadorian fishing firms, IATTC, and vessels to identify eligible observers and skippers in the Eastern Pacific who can implement and test these designs across one fishing season.

We will train observers at the workshops to deploy ray tags to measure post-release mortality — in other words, to learn whether these bycatch “interventions” are reducing the chance that mobulids will die as a result of bycatch. With this data, we can assess whether these designs are effective, and plan for scaling them across the Eastern Pacific and elsewhere.

Scientists, fisheries managers,  and the fishing industry can work together to co-create and implement solutions for threatened bycatch species like mobulids. With the generous support of ISSF, we plan to use this approach to protect threatened manta rays from fisheries bycatch, and ensure that we protect these iconic species before it’s too late.

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ISSF Awards Grand Prize in Seafood Sustainability Contest

Written by svanouse on . Posted in News, Videos.

Doctoral student Melissa Cronin of the University of California, Santa Cruz, is the Grand Prize winner in ISSF’s International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF) Seafood Sustainability Contest. She wins for her contest entry, “Incentivizing Collaborative Release to Reduce Elasmobranch Bycatch Mortality,” which proposes handling-and-release methods that purse-seine vessel skippers and crew can use to reduce the mortality of manta rays and devil rays incidentally caught during tuna fishing. Ms. Cronin is a Ph.D. candidate in the Conservation Action Lab at UC Santa Cruz studying Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. Learn more about her research experiences and winning idea.

ISSF Awards Grand Prize in Seafood Sustainability Contest

Written by svanouse on . Posted in News, Press Releases.

Doctoral student Melissa Cronin of the University of California, Santa Cruz, is the Grand Prize winner in ISSF’s International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF) Seafood Sustainability Contest. She receives a $45,000 prize from ISSF for her contest entry, “Incentivizing Collaborative Release to Reduce Elasmobranch Bycatch Mortality,” which proposes handling-and-release methods that purse-seine vessel skippers and crew can use to reduce the mortality of manta rays and devil rays incidentally caught during tuna fishing.

Congratulations to our #Seafood #Sustainability Contest winners Melissa Cronin and Guillermo Ortuno Crespo. Click To Tweet
Melissa Cronin
Grand Prize winner Melissa Cronin. Photo by Carolyn Lagatutta

Her winning proposal calls for cooperative workshops with purse-seine skippers and observers, offering financial rewards for the design, testing, and onboard implementation of feasible, scalable techniques for safely removing rays from vessel decks.

It also includes training observers in tagging rays to track their post-release survival. Rays, in addition to sharks, are the species groups most vulnerable in the purse-seine fishery. In the Indian Ocean, for example, rays comprise the majority of bycatch in tuna fishers’ free-school sets: bycatch overall on such sets represents 0.9% of the total catch, and 34% of that is rays.

 

Ms. Cronin is a Ph.D. candidate in the Conservation Action Lab at UC Santa Cruz studying Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. Learn more about her research experiences and winning idea in her ISSF blog post and video.

In addition to the $40,000 Grand Prize, the award includes a trip, with an estimated $5,000 value, to a tuna event. ISSF will arrange for Ms. Cronin to present her proposal at a Regional Fisheries Management Organization (RFMO) event this year.

Winning Proposal Builds on ISSF Scientist-Fisher Collaboration

Dr. Victor Restrepo, ISSF Vice President, Science and Chair of the ISSF Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC), led the contest’s judging panel. “Through this competition, we’re pleased to reward promising research ideas from up-and-coming marine and fisheries scientists,” he commented. “Ms. Cronin’s thoughtful proposal is based on collaborative problem-solving between fishers and scientists — a successful model ISSF follows in our Skippers Workshops worldwide. Our workshops have focused on finding new approaches in tuna fisheries to protect sharks and other non-tuna species, for example.”

The judging panel evaluated contest entries on the following criteria: originality, conservation impact, impact on skipjack catches, degree to which idea has been tested, feasibility of industry-wide implementation, and cost effectiveness. In addition to Dr. Restrepo, the panel included Dr. Josu Santiago, AZTI; Dr. Laurent Dagorn, Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD); Dr. Gala Moreno, ISSF Science Consultant; and Miguel Herrera, OPAGAC Scientist.

Runner-Up Prize Winning Entry Focuses on Oceanic Sharks

Guillermo Ortuno Crespo, a researcher at the Marine Geospatial Ecology Lab at Duke University, receives a $10,000 prize as the contest Runner-up Winner for his proposal, “Dynamic Habitat Predictions of Two Bycaught Oceanic Shark Species.” His proposal focuses on predicting the dynamic, spatial distribution of non-target and sometimes target species based on their environmental preferences.

Mr. Crespo’s study explores the dynamic habitats of Carcharhinus longimanus and C. falciformis in the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC) region, to help predict where fisher-shark bycatch interactions are likely to occur.

The ISSF Seafood Sustainability Contest  commemorated ISSF’s first “Decade of Discovery” (2009-2019), which has been marked by productive partnerships with marine scientists, seafood companies, vessels, Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (RFMOs), charitable foundations, retailers, and fellow NGOs.

 

Protecting Resources in the World’s Largest Tuna Fishing Grounds

Written by svanouse on . Posted in Blogs, News.

The Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) is responsible for the effective long-term conservation and management of highly migratory fish stocks in the western and central Pacific Ocean (WCPO). With about 52 percent of the global production of tuna coming from the WCPO — catches of skipjack, yellowfin, and bigeye tuna in 2018 were 2,544,000 tonnes — it’s easy to see why organizations like ours are promoting the long-term conservation and management of Pacific fisheries.

This year, ISSF is urging the Commission to make progress on important elements of sustainable fisheries management, specifically harvest strategies and transshipment regulations, which will foster the long-term health of the region’s fisheries.

Commission Must Progress Harvest Strategies

ISSF is committed to supporting the development of rigorous harvest strategies for all tuna fisheries, including those managed by the WCPFC. A harvest strategy is a pre-agreed framework for recommending or making fisheries management decisions, such as setting catch limits, that is designed to achieve specific management objectives. ISSF works toward the goal of all tuna fisheries becoming capable of achieving the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification standard without conditions. And the adoption of harvest control rules (HCRs) and harvest strategies are key elements of the MSC certification standard.

The clock is ticking for the Commission on this critical matter. Despite the commitments in the WCPFC Harvest Strategy Work Plan, there has been a disappointing level of discussion and progress in the Commission: the timeframes in the original Work Plan have lapsed. WCPFC urgently needs to develop species-specific harvest strategies and HCRs.

Further, tuna from the WCPO comprise the majority of the MSC-certified tuna available globally. The MSC has established hard deadlines regarding these elements of certification, and if these deadlines are not met via swift management decisions by the WCPFC, these fisheries risk losing certification. For example, if WCPFC does not adopt harvest control rules by 2021 for southern albacore, skipjack and yellowfin stocks, and by 2023 for the northern albacore stock, the current MSC certification for these stocks will be suspended. 

With these factors in mind, ISSF is urging WCPFC fisheries managers to progress the adoption of harvest control rules by acting decisively at their annual meeting to:

  • Develop harvest control rules for skipjack and south Pacific albacore, and agree on a target reference point for yellowfin and bigeye tunas, in line with the Harvest Strategy Work Plan
  • Establish a Science-Management Dialogue by adopting the Terms of Reference proposed by the WCPFC Scientific Committee

Better Management of At-Sea Activities

Transshipment is the transfer of fish or fish products, at sea or in port, from one fishing vessel to either another fishing vessel — or to a vessel used solely for the carriage of cargo — for further transport. At-sea transshipments are of concern in fishery management since, if not properly monitored, they can complicate the collection of accurate data and the traceability of product, creating a fertile environment for IUU fishing activities.

According to Commission data, the number of high-seas transshipment events has increased by 155 percent between 2014 and 2018. And reports presented at the WCPFC Technical and Compliance Committee show continued non-compliance by the member nations that authorise vessels to transship at sea. These 10 nations are failing to meet the deadlines for required reports like advanced notifications and transshipment event reports.

It’s time that WCPFC addresses the deficiencies in its transshipment measure that are exacerbating and perpetuating this situation. Specifically, ISSF is urging the WCPFC to adopt amendments to its transshipment measure in line with best practices, which are being also advanced by many other partners, to:

  • Require real time reporting for all transshipment activity
  • Require members to report on at-sea transshipment conducted inside EEZs
  • Extend the transshipment management arrangements to bunkering vessels
  • Automatically include in the draft IUU vessel list any vessels that breach the transshipment measure, and adopt clear criteria for flag State authorization of at-sea transshipment and a process for the Commission to review issued authorizations against those criteria
  • Require 100 percent observer coverage for longline vessels, and all vessels engaged in at-sea transshipment, within five years

To learn more about ISSF priorities for the upcoming WCPFC meeting, review our full position statement: https://www.iss-foundation.org/what-we-do/influence/position-statements/download-info/2019-wcpfc-position-statement/. For more on recommended management best practices at tuna RFMOs and how they are being met, review ISSF’s series of RFMO Best Practices Snapshots: https://www.iss-foundation.org/what-we-do/influence/rfmo-best-practices-snapshots/

We hope you will join our efforts to urge progress on these priorities by advocating for action at the upcoming WCPFC meeting. You can do this by meeting with national delegations that will be tabling proposals and making the decisions at the meeting; vessel and industry representatives that attend as part of these national delegations and who exercise influence over the positions their governments take; and FIPs, tuna processors, retailers, and buyers to encourage them to also advocate for concrete action at WCPFC.

ICCAT Moves to Protect Atlantic Bigeye and Close Gaps in Monitoring and Data Collection

Written by svanouse on . Posted in Blogs, News.

After a week of intense negotiations, 800 participants took decisive action at the close of this year’s meeting of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT). The Commission made important progress by acting to protect the region’s overfished bigeye tuna stock and to strengthen monitoring, control and data collection programs.

ICCAT Strengthens FAD Management and Observer Coverage

While reductions in the catch limits for bigeye in the new ICCAT tropical tuna conservation measure are interim and will be reviewed next year, the measure now also includes important FAD management elements for which ISSF and our stakeholders have long advocated.

These elements will help protect bigeye stocks, which are overfished in the Atlantic Ocean, and they include:

  • A two-month FAD closure in 2020 and a three-month FAD closure in 2021 throughout the Convention Area (ICCAT had previously only prohibited fishing with FADs during a two-month period in a limited part of its Convention Area)
  • A reduction of operational FAD buoys from 500 — the highest of all the tuna RFMOs — down to 300 by 2021

ICCAT also increased observer coverage for both purse seine and longline fleets, a development worthy of celebration. ICCAT has long required 100 percent observer coverage only on tropical tuna purse seiners during its time/area two-month FAD moratorium. And ICCAT’s science body has repeatedly highlighted that five percent observer coverage for longliners is inadequate to provide reasonable estimates of total bycatch. The lack of quality data from observer programs on catches and interactions with non-target species for both fisheries has undermined stock assessments, hindering scientific input for the development of effective conservation measures.

We are pleased that ICCAT began remedying this situation with decisions like these at this year’s meeting:

  • Requiring 100 percent observer coverage, year round, on purse seine vessels targeting tropical tunas
  • Increasing observer coverage on longline vessels over 20 meters to 10 percent in 2022
  • Requiring the development of minimum standards for electronic monitoring by 2021

Speaking of observers, another big win was ICCAT’s adoption of a measure protecting on-board human observers, joining the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) and the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC) in ensuring observers can perform their jobs in a safe, professional environment.

A final important accomplishment this year was the adoption of amendments to modernize the ICCAT Convention text. These amendments will strengthen ICCAT’s mandate and tools to sustainably manage not only the tuna resources of the Atlantic but also sharks and the broader marine ecosystem. And they will help ICCAT combat IUU activities and implement the precautionary approach to fisheries management.

Misses for At-sea Transshipment Reform and the Conservation of Turtles and Sharks

ISSF and our NGO partners have been advocating for stronger controls on the practice of at-sea transshipment. ICCAT’s regulation of at-sea transshipment does not follow best practices on these issues:

  • Time frames for seeking authorization to transship at sea
  • Requiring 100 percent observer coverage on both the carrier and fishing vessel
  • Widening data-sharing arrangements
  • Shorter deadlines for submitting completed transshipment declarations

Unfortunately, ICCAT again failed to take action to adopt these best practices and other necessary reforms to its rule regulating transshipment. The lack of action was due largely to opposition from three member nations that have collectively engaged in more than 90 percent of at-sea transshipments in the ICCAT Convention Area between 2018 and 2019. 

ICCAT also failed to adopt stronger measures to protect endangered and threatened sea turtles that are caught incidentally in longline fisheries. The adoption of a recommendation that would have implemented ICCAT’s own scientific advice on the use of large circle hooks or whole finfish bait in shallow-set longline fisheries (where research shows most sea turtle bycatch occurs) was blocked.

Lastly, ICCAT failed to adopt the advice of its scientific body to protect critically depleted and overfished Atlantic short-fin mako shark stocks. The current short-fin mako measure was extended, punting the issue once again to next year.

We hope you will join our efforts to continue to demand progress for Atlantic Ocean tuna fisheries. More effort is needed to urge precautionary and science-based action at ICCAT. The Commission has set an ambitious agenda of intersessional work next year to address the issues on which no agreement could be found at this year’s meeting. ISSF will continue to work cooperatively with all ICCAT parties and with our diverse, multi-sector stakeholders throughout 2020 to ensure the enduring health of the tunas and ecosystems of the Atlantic Ocean.

Two Fisheries Science and Management Experts Appointed to ISSF Environmental Stakeholder Committee

Written by svanouse on . Posted in News, Press Releases.

The International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF) announced today that Dr. Alexia Morgan of the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership (SFP) and Bill Holden of the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) have joined the ISSF Environmental Stakeholder Committee (ESC).

Meet our new Environmental Stakeholder Committee members: Dr. Alexia Morgan of @fishsource and Bill Holden of @MSCecolabel. Click To Tweet

Alexia Morgan, Ph.D., is the Science Lead for Tuna and Large Pelagic Species at the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership (SFP).  Dr. Morgan provides scientific and technical advice to producers and suppliers on key issues related to the fisheries they source from and ways in which they can improve these fisheries, including bycatch issues. In addition to these roles, Dr. Morgan conducts seafood assessments of tuna and large pelagic fisheries for SFP. Previously, Dr. Morgan was a Research Biologist at the Florida Program for Shark Research at the University of Florida and has worked as a consultant for various NGOs on a variety of elasmobranch-related issues. Outside of SFP, Dr. Morgan’s interests and research focus primarily on ecosystem impacts and spatial management of elasmobranch species in the Atlantic. Dr. Morgan has a Ph.D. in Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences from the University of Florida and an M.S. in Marine Biology from Nova Southeastern University.

“Dr. Morgan’s hands-on experience with producers and suppliers coupled with an impressive scientific background will be a significant asset for our team. Her position on the ISSF Environmental Stakeholder Committee continues ISSF’s long-time engagement with the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership,” said ISSF President Susan Jackson.

Mr. Bill Holden is the Senior Fisheries Manager, Oceania & South East Asia, for the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), a global fisheries certification and ecolabel program. He began working with the MSC in February 2009 and is based in the Sydney office. His work involves fisheries outreach in the Pacific and Indian Oceans, with a focus on tuna fisheries. Mr. Holden has a wealth of experience in fisheries management from more than 20 years as an owner, operator and skipper of snapper and tuna longliners in the Kingdom of Tonga. During that time, he was the President of the Fishing Industry Association of Tonga (FIAT) and a director of the Pacific Islands Tuna Industry Association (PITIA).  Along with his vast industry experience and knowledge of fishing and marketing operations, Mr. Holden’s work in associations provides him with an understanding of regional management, and he maintains an extensive Pacific network of colleagues, associates and friends. Mr. Holden graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara, in 1984 with a B.A. in Political Science and Communications.

“ISSF’s objective is for all tuna fisheries to be capable of achieving MSC certification without conditions. Having regular representation from MSC on ISSF’s Environmental Stakeholder Committee has been important for ISSF,” said ISSF President Susan Jackson. “As our newest ESC member from MSC, Bill brings regional management experience and expertise in the Western Pacific and Indian Ocean that is especially vital to our collaborative work. We look forward to his advice and counsel, especially in that critical part of the tuna-fishing world.” 

About the Environmental Stakeholder Committee

The ISSF Board receives information from formal and informal partners — environmental stakeholders marine scientists, fishers, and vessel owners — who share insights from the field.

The ESC comprises expert representatives from various conservation and scientific bodies who volunteer to share their expertise. The ESC, as does ISSF’s Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC), provides advice to the ISSF Board of Directors on issues to consider before taking action on specific sustainability efforts, including regarding ISSF conservation measures that ISSF Participating Companies commit to conform to with the goal of improving the long-term health of global tuna fisheries.

Latest ISSF Participating Tuna Company Compliance Report Shows 99 Percent Conformance with ISSF Conservation Measures

Written by svanouse on . Posted in News, Press Releases.

The International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF) has released its fourth annual Update to ISSF Conservation Measures & Commitments Compliance Report, which shows a conformance rate of 99 percent by 25 ISSF participating companies with all 27 ISSF conservation measures in effect as of 2018.

As part of its commitment to foster transparency and accountability in the fishing industry, ISSF engages third-party auditor MRAG Americas to assess ISSF participating seafood companies’ compliance with ISSF conservation measures according to a rigorous audit protocol.

ISSF participating #seafood companies have regularly surpassed 90% full conformance with ISSF #conservation measures. Click To Tweet

The November 2019 report is based on updates to the initial annual audit results published in April 2019, wherein some companies had “minor” or “major” non-conformances with conservation measures in 2018:

  • The April 2019 annual report showed that one company had a major non-conformance, which had been remediated as of the November 2019 report’s release.
  • There were no other instances of major non-conformance in 2018.
  • ISSF also noted in the November 2019 report that eight participating companies had at least one minor non-conformance, for a total of nine minor non-conformances.

MRAG Americas defines a minor non-conformance as: “Company does not fully comply with a particular conservation measure or commitment, but this does not compromise the integrity of ISSF initiatives.”

The rate of full conformance for each period since participating-company compliance reporting began is reflected below:

Annual compliance report Update to annual compliance report
June 2015: 79.8 percent No Update report published in 2015
June 2016: 87.2 percent November 2016: 95.6 percent
May 2017: 97.5 percent November 2017: 100 percent
June 2018: 97 percent November 2018: 99 percent
April 2019: 98.5 percent November 2019: 99 percent

“As we close a year of celebrating ISSF’s decade of discovery, we are pleased to reflect on consistent years of company-specific, third-party compliance reporting,” said ISSF President Susan Jackson.

“There’s been a 100 percent success rate in ISSF participating companies addressing major non-conformances for the last three audit years, and these companies have regularly surpassed 90 percent in their rate of full conformance with a growing list of ISSF conservation measures. The ISSF audit and compliance process holds industry participants to a higher, completely transparent, standard, making sustainability a core part of their overall strategy.”

The Update to ISSF Conservation Measures & Commitments Compliance Report is published each November to track ISSF participating companies’ progress in conforming with ISSF conservation measures like these:

In addition to the summary compliance reports published in April and November, MRAG Americas issues yearly individual ISSF participating company reports that detail each company’s compliance with all ISSF conservation measures. These include “update” reports, published throughout the year, that explain how individual companies have remediated any non-conformance on the conservation measures.

More Information about ISSF Conservation Measures & Compliance

For long-term tuna sustainability, tuna companies worldwide choose to participate with ISSF, follow responsible fishing practices, and implement science-based conservation measures. From bycatch mitigation to product traceability, ISSF participating companies have committed to conforming to a set of conservation measures and other commitments designed to drive positive change — and to do so transparently through third-party audits.

View ISSF Conservation Measures

View ISSA Compliance Policy

Biodegradable FAD Workshops in the Western Pacific Ocean

Written by svanouse on . Posted in News, Videos.

Biodegradable fish aggregating devices (FADs) are made with natural materials that can break down over time and are less harmful to the marine environment. In contrast, traditional FADs are made with man-made materials that, when not retrieved after fishing, persist in and pollute the oceans. We’re working with fishers, scientists and industry to find the best non-entangling designs and natural materials for fish aggregating devices (FADs) that can biodegrade. This video offers an overview of recent workshops that are part of this ongoing effort.

ISSF Announces New Conservation Measure to Bolster Fish Aggregating Device (FAD) Management across Global Tuna Fisheries

Written by svanouse on . Posted in Conservation Measures, News, Press Releases.

The International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF) today announced the adoption of a new conservation measure requiring that fishing vessels have publicly available fish aggregation device (FAD) management policies to comply with ISSF supply-chain recommendations for marine ecosystem health. These policies must be in line with science-based best practices outlined in ISSF’s report, “Recommended Best Practices for FAD Management in Tropical Tuna Purse Seine Fisheries.”

Our new #conservation measure helps companies source #tuna from #vessels following best practices in #FAD management. Click To Tweet

“Since ISSF’s founding 10 years ago, we’ve prioritized better management of FADs and the reduction of bycatch and other marine ecosystem impacts across all oceans,” explains ISSF President Susan Jackson. “This new conservation measure gives leading seafood companies a clear framework, based on years of scientific research, in sourcing tuna from vessels that are following best practices in designing, deploying, and recovering FADs — and also in reporting FAD data to Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (RFMOs).”

ISSF Conservation Measure 3.7 Transactions with Vessels or Companies with Vessel-based FAD Management Policies, approved by the ISSF Board of Directors to take effect in 2021, states that ISSF participating companies shall conduct transactions only with those purse seine vessels whose owners develop and make public FAD management policies that include the activities purse seine and supply vessels are undertaking (if any) on the following elements:

  • Comply with flag state and RFMO reporting requirements for fisheries statistics by set type
  • Voluntarily report additional FAD buoy data for use by RFMO science bodies
  • Support science-based limits on the overall number of FADs used per vessel and/or FAD sets made
  • Use only non-entangling FADs to reduce ghost fishing
  • Mitigate other environmental impacts due to FAD loss including through the use of biodegradable FADs and FAD recovery policies
  • For silky sharks (the main bycatch issue in FAD sets), implement further mitigation efforts

Helping global tuna fisheries become capable of achieving Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification without conditions has long been an ISSF objective, and improved FAD management is an important component of meeting the MSC standard. Conservation Measure 3.7 is ISSF’s second measure focused on FADs specifically, and its tenth measure focused on bycatch mitigation in tuna fisheries.

For full details on Conservation Measure 3.7, read the complete text here: https://www.iss-foundation.org/what-we-do/verification/conservation-measures-commitments/bycatch-mitigation-3-7-transactions-with-vessels-or-companies-with-vessel-based-fad-management-policies/

Supply Chain Conservation Measure Expanded to Include FisheryProgress.org and MSC-certified Fisheries

ISSF conservation measures directly affect how 26 global seafood companies that are ISSF participating companies environmentally manage their respective tuna supply chains.

To support ISSF participating companies in sourcing sustainable tuna from processors and vessels and achieving greater supply-chain transparency, the ISSF Board has amended Conservation Measure 2.4 Supply Chain Transparency, Audit, Reporting and Purchase Requirements.

In addition to purchasing tuna from Supplier Source categories — peer ISSF participating companies, ISSF Data Check companies, direct from vessels — ISSF participating companies now can source tuna from an expanded array of sources represented by these Fishery Source categories:

  • Marine Stewardship Council (MSC)-certified fisheries eligible to use the MSC label
  • Comprehensive FIPs listed on FisheryProgress.org scoring A, B or C or in their initial listing on Fisheryprogress.org
  • Comprehensive FIPs listed on FisheryProgress.org scoring D or E

By January 31, 2020, and annually thereafter, to comply with measure 2.4, participating companies must publicly report the percentage of tuna sourced from the Supplier Source and/or Fishery Source categories.

The complete measure is available here: https://www.iss-foundation.org/what-we-do/verification/conservation-measures-commitments/traceability-data-collection-2-4-supply-chain-transparency-audit-reporting-and-purchase-requirements/.

ISSF provides application forms for companies interested in becoming a participating company or Data Check company, including Terms and Conditions for Data Check Companies.

About ISSF Conservation Measures & Compliance Process

ISSF is a global partnership among scientists, the tuna industry and the environmental non-governmental community whose mission is to undertake science-based initiatives for the long-term conservation and sustainable use of tuna stocks, reducing bycatch and promoting ecosystem health.

Since its inception in 2009, ISSF has adopted conservation measures and commitments to facilitate this mission with the intent that processors, traders, marketers and others involved in the seafood industry will follow them to facilitate real and continuous improvement across global tuna stocks. Each ISSF participating company commits to conform to these conservation measures to improve the long-term health of tuna fisheries. They also must adhere to the ISSA Compliance Policy.

ISSF-participating tuna companies, which represent the majority of the world’s canned-tuna production and include well-known brand names, are audited yearly by MRAG Americas on their compliance with ISSF conservation measures.