Two significant tuna fisheries, Western Central Pacific Ocean (WCPO) skipjack and North Pacific albacore, have achieved major milestones in sustainable fisheries management by successfully implementing rigorous harvest strategies that ensure the long-term health of these tuna stocks.
Following the implementation of a robust and precautionary harvest strategy in December 2023, and the subsequent annual discussion between Conformity Assessment Bodies (CABs) in August, WCPO skipjack, the world’s biggest tuna fishery, has now addressed all associated conditions required for certification to the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) Fisheries Standard.
North Pacific albacore achieved a breakthrough by having a stock-wide management plan adopted across two Regional Fishery Management Organisations (RFMOs): the Western Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) and Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC). It is the first tuna stock to achieve this distinction and similarly to WCPO skipjack, has met all the relevant conditions on the sustainability of the stock associated with MSC certification.
Harvest strategies are vital to ensuring stocks are managed sustainably, and this is particularly important for stocks such as tuna, which migrate across vast distances and are shared by multiple nations. Harvest strategies include setting harvest control rules which must be followed if the stock declines, acting as a pre-determined ‘safety net’.
To ensure ongoing MSC certification, Section SE of the MSC Fisheries Standard version 3.1 requires all tuna fisheries operating across multiple RFMOs to develop and implement harvest strategies and harvest control rules. WCFPC managed tuna fisheries were set pre-defined milestones to deliver world-leading harvest strategies, and WCPO skipjack tuna was the first MSC engaged tuna stock to achieve the Section SE milestones.
WCPO skipjack tuna’s important milestone was the outcome of discussion at the Western Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) annual meeting in December 2023. Delegates agreed a measure that allows stronger management for bigeye, skipjack, and yellowfin tuna in the WCPFC’s jurisdiction. IATTC and WCPFC delegates adopted North Pacific albacore’s management plan at their annual commission meetings in August and December 2023 respectively.
Bill Holden, Global Tuna Lead, MSC, said, “We warmly congratulate the outstanding work of these tuna fisheries in implementing world leading sustainable fishing practices and management plans. Skipjack’s success in achieving all its milestones under Version 3.1 of the MSC Fisheries Standard is testament to effective collaboration at the WCPFC.
“North Pacific albacore’s implementation of a management plan across multiple jurisdictions is the fruit of years of concerted pressure from WCPFC and IATTC managed fisheries on their delegations, NGOs and market players urging progress, and ultimately fishing countries coming together to foster the sustainable management of their tuna stocks.
“These achievements mark a significant step forward in global fisheries management, setting a benchmark for other fisheries to follow and ensuring that the world’s most important tuna stocks are managed sustainably,” he said.
