ISSF UPDATES MSC TUNA REPORTS

ISSF updates MSC tuna reports. The International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF) has updated two comprehensive reports that share recommendations for both purse seine and longline fisheries pursuing Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification.

ISSF 2020-11: Recommended Best Practices for Tropical Tuna Purse Seine Fisheries in Transition to MSC Certification, with an Emphasis on FADs and ISSF 2020-10: Recommended Best Practices for Tuna Longline Fisheries in Transition to MSC Certification are based on Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) fishery-certification standards and organized by MSC principles and performance indicators. They are intended to be used as practical resources for purse-seine and longline fisheries in Fishery Improvement Projects (FIPs) to address problems, close gaps, and earn MSC certification. They can also be used by already-certified fisheries that have Conditions that need to be remedied.

“Helping all tuna fisheries to be sustainable and meet MSC certification standards without conditions is ISSF’s ultimate objective,” said ISSF Vice President of Science Victor Restrepo. “Because FIPs are so instrumental in that process, ISSF emphasizes tools and resources, along with scientific expertise and RFMO advocacy, to support those improvement projects. We believe these reports can be useful both for the 45-plus tuna FIPs currently active worldwide, as well as aspiring FIPs that are beginning to take the necessary steps to commence.”

The purse seine report summarizes science-based best practices for tropical tuna purse-seine fisheries that make both fish aggregating device (FAD) sets and free-swimming school sets. The longline report summarizes recommended best practices for tuna longline fisheries that aim to participate in Fishery Improvement Programs (FIPs) with the objective of achieving MSC certification.

In both reports, the recommended practices are linked to MSC Fishery Certification Requirements including suggested examples for concrete actions that the fleets can implement. 

 More information: https://iss-foundation.org/becoming-certified-how-tropical-tuna-purse-seine-and-longline-fisheries-can-achieve-msc-standards/