Page 14 - IB May 2018 Edition

Cover Story

A dying method...pole and line fishing where fish is
caught manually one by one. Photo: Greenpeace

Tuna Triumph!

Independent ruling slams objections
to PNA’s MSC re-certification

Schools of tuna in Pacific waters. Photo: constantine.typepad.com More tuna is caught globally each year via the purse
seine fishing method where nets are used.
Photo: Greenpeace
practices were being carried out alongside those efforts are now flowing to our people
sustainable fishing in PNA waters. from tuna stocks that are the healthiest in
Because of that, it argued, PNA should the world.”
not be certified as a “sustainable fishery.” In their draft report on that hearing – a
“This is about market share of MSC fish copy was obtained by the magazine – the
in the shelves. The pole and line fishery PNA representatives homed in on what
By Dionisia Tabureguci cannot supply the volumes. IPNLF is they perceived was the motive behind
John Burton, whose commercial interests IPNLF’s action.
RELENTLESS tuna politics failed to deflate were being eroded,” PNA’s former legal “It was clear that the objection was not
confidence within the Parties to the Nauru consultant Dr Transform Aqorau told based on sustainability concerns for the
Agreement (PNA) camp following strong Islands Business. resources and the primary motivation was
opposition from the International Pole He alongside PNA’s Commercial Man- obviously informed commercial interests.
and Line Foundation (IPNLF) to its re- ager Maurice Brown John and PNA’s This is reflected in the fact that IPNLF
certification under the Marine Stewardship Fisheries Specialist Adviser Les Clark, had three lawyers on their team with only
Council (MSC) eco-label. represented the organisation at the subse- one person with a fisheries background.
In what was generally seen by PNA quent hearing of the case by an Indepen- Significantly, there was no one from the
as “commercially motivated,” the IPNLF dent Adjudicator (IA) in New York, U.S.A Maldives Pole-and-line fishery, who would
objection delayed the recertification by in January this year. have been impacted by the PNA MSC Cer-
months despite the green light given by “Is it not self-evident, that we for whom tification,” they noted in their draft report.
a third party Conformity Assessment tuna means so much, would be so self- Being the biggest pole and line fishery
Body (CAB), which in this case was the less so as to manage it irresponsibly,” in the Indian Ocean, the Maldives is
international assessment consultancy Aqorau said in his opening speech at the among the world’s top three producers of
firm Acoura. hearing. “That is not the path we would skipjack and yellowfin tuna caught using
Acoura was appointed in August last ever wish to tread. Indeed, our leaders this method, and, like PNA, it is also an
year to act as CAB to assess PNA for its have had the foresight and vision for 36 MSC-certified fishery.
purse seine yellowfin and skipjack tuna years since coming together as a union On the outset, the face-off was bound
and by June, it had its Public Comment under the umbrella of the PNA to sustain- to happen, as spans of ethical differences
Draft Report out and its final report was ably manage these tunas for the best of separate proponents of the pole and line
published in early September. Its assess- their peoples. In the past 36 years, these fishery that the IPNLF represents and the
ment was in favour of PNA’s recertifica- small, disparate, developing nations have purse seine fishery (free school/FAD-free)
tion. shouldered a heavy responsibility far be- that PNA represents and for which it is
By that month’s end, the IPNLF had of- yond measure, in proportion to their size, certified.
ficially launched its objection, stating its scale and economies by leading the way Burton, whose interests PNA claims are
dissatisfactions with a number of issues and making the hard decisions to ensure being protected in the IPNLF objection,
including the way MSC’s assessment was that their tuna resources are managed is the current IPNLF chairman and also
carried out and that unsustainable fishing effectively and sustainably. The fruits of founder and CEO of UK-based World Wise

14 Islands Business, May 2018