Page 22 - IB JAN 2017

Police officer chaining gates shut at the National Fraud
and Anti-Corruption Directorate.
Fisheries
‘Wild-catch’ tuna to nnage may double
Tuna caught under the PNA deal are done
without using fish aggregating devices
(FADs), above left. Photo: PNA
22 Islands Business, January 2017
GROWING global market demand for
MSC-certified tuna and fishing industry
interest is expected to see “wild catch”
tuna tonnage double from the waters
of the Parties to the Nauru Agreement
in 2017.
The Parties to the Nauru Agreement
(PNA) operates a Marine Stewardship
Council (MSC) certified free school
caught skipjack and yellowfin tuna fish-
ery in the western and central Pacific
fishing zones of its member nations.
In 2016, tuna fishing fleets comply-
ing with strict chain of custody rules
that met MSC certification requirements
delivered over 55,000 metric tons of
sustainably caught free school tuna to
market, said PNA CEO Ludwig Kumoru.
“We expect the volume to double
to about 100,000 metric tons in 2017
based upon existing orders,” he said.
“With strong fishing industry buy-in
for PNA’s MSC-certified fishery, we see
the market for sustainably caught tuna
continuing to grow. This benefits every-
one — the fisheries industry, retailers,
and PNA members. Most importantly,
catching tuna without using fish ag-
gregating devices (FADs) means tuna
are being fished sustainably.”
A “free school” catch means a
catch by purse seiners without the aid
of FADs. This is verified by onboard
fisheries observers at sea where the free
school tuna is rigidly segregated in the
hold of a purse seiner, and a rigorous
chain of custody system is in place
through transshipping to a processing
plant and finally to the retailer
so that consumers know with
absolute confidence the story
behind the tuna they buy in the store.
“PNA has gone above and beyond
what others do (to ensure tuna caught
meets free school catch requirements),”
said Bill Holden of the Marine Steward-
ship Council.
He pointed out that MSC certifica-
tion makes the PNA tuna fishery more
transparent. To meet MSC require-
ments, the fishery is also audited an-
nually and every five years an extensive
review is conducted, he said.
In addition, PNA has been proactive
in addressing conditions of the certifi-
cation. Holden said a condition of MSC