GLOBAL TUNA STOCKS’ SUSTAINABILITY EVALUATED AGAINST MSC CRITERIA

Global tuna stocks’ sustainability evaluated against MSC criteria. ISSF Report: 12 Tuna Stocks Not Meeting Criteria for Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) Fisheries Standard. Updated Report Determines 11 Tuna Stocks Achieve Passing Scores on MSC Principle 1

Fisheries scientists in An Evaluation of the Sustainability of Global Tuna Stocks Relative to Marine Stewardship Council Criteria — a June 2024 report commissioned by the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF) — found 11 of the 23 major commercial tuna stocks worldwide are successfully avoiding overfishing and maintaining target stock biomass levels when measured against the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) Fisheries Standard. In the March 2023 edition of the ISSF report, eight stocks passed Principle 1. In this year’s report, three additional stocks received a passing score.

The 11 stocks are Western Atlantic skipjack, North Atlantic albacore, South Atlantic albacore, Eastern Atlantic bluefin, Western Pacific yellowfin, Western Pacific bigeye, Western Pacific skipjack, Eastern Pacific yellowfin, Eastern Pacific skipjack, Indian Ocean skipjack and Southern Ocean bluefin. These stocks achieved a passing score for the Standard’s Principle 1, “Sustainable Fish Stocks,” which requires fisheries to be managed in a manner that does not lead to overfishing or depletion of exploited fish populations. 

Seven of the 23 stocks also have fully implemented well-defined harvest control rules. However, failure to implement controls before rebuilding is required continues to contribute to an increasing number of stocks failing to meet minimum requirements on harvest control rules.

An Evaluation of the Sustainability of Global Tuna Stocks Relative to Marine Stewardship Council Criteria was authored by Paul A. H. Medley and Jo Gascoigne.

About the MSC Fisheries Standard

MSC is an independent, international, non-profit organization that oversees a programme to assess global wild-capture fisheries and certify them as “sustainable” if they meet its Fisheries Standard criteria. 

About the Report

 ISSF 2024-06: An Evaluation of the Sustainability of Global Tuna Stocks Relative to Marine Stewardship Council Criteria takes a consistent, comprehensive approach to scoring tuna stocks based on certain components of the MSC standard. Updated regularly since it was first published in 2013, and organised by individual tuna stock and tuna Regional Fisheries Management Organization (RFMO), the report is designed to:

• Provide a basis for comparing between stocks scores that are assigned by the same experts
• Become a useful source document for future tuna certifications 
• Give a “snapshot” of the current status of the stocks and the strengths and weaknesses of RFMOs

The updated scores in the report focus on stock status (MSC Principle 1) and are based on publicly available fishery data. MSC Principle 1 is evaluated in relationship to its Performance Indicators (PIs). The report is adapted to MSC standard 2.01 — released in 2019 — and to changing stock status and management situations. As the MSC has delayed implementation of MSC Standard 3.0, ISSF will adjust the report to measure against the new standard when appropriate in the future. In addition, this update does not re-score the RFMO section (Principle 3).

The Evaluation report includes detailed remarks on each stock, evaluations of the five RFMOs and comprehensive reference citations.

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.” The report authors attribute stocks with failing scores to poor stock status, the lack of well-defined harvest control rules in place and the lack of effective tools to control harvest. In the 2024 report, seven of the 23 stocks have fully implemented well-defined harvest control rules.