Page 15 - IB May 2018 Edition

Cover Story

Foods, producers of a range internationally from distribu- between ‘sustainable FAD-free’ tuna and
of canned products includ- tors for tuna caught using this ‘unsustainable FAD-caught’ tuna, under-
ing fish. fishing method. mines the notion of rewarding sustainable
Like PNA, that sells its It sees the decision by the fisheries and driving improvements on the
MSC-certified tuna products Independent Adjudicator in water. Many environmental organisations
through its wholly owned the PNA’s MSC recertification agree that unless purse seine tuna fisher-
tuna marketing company Pa- case as a blow to ies are assessed holistically, and all of their
cifical C.v, World Wise Foods sustainable impacts are considered, they should not be
products are also MSC-cer- fishing and rewarded for being ‘partially’ sustainable.
tified and with Pacifical now has point- There is no logic in claiming that a fisher
pushing strongly into the UK fishing on free schools in the morning can
market – its tuna products are be ‘sustainable’ while the same fisher is
available through Princes Canned supposedly ‘unsustainable’ when fishing
Foods – sparks flying and the subsequent Popular UK-based on FADs in the afternoon,” the IPNLF
food brand Princes sources its tuna from PNA’s
arbitration ruling in PNA’s favour has not marketing arm Pacifical for its MSC-certified canned added.
surprised those in the know. tuna products. Photo: www.princes.co.uk That main argument and a number of
“It was inconceivable that the Indepen- others outlined in IPNLF’s objection notice
dent Adjudicator ruling could have ever ed out holes in the MSC’s certification have certainly been food for thought not
been otherwise,” said PNA’s CEO Ludwig assessment process which may be seen as just for the MSC but for PNA as well and
Kumoru when the final ruling was handed defeating the fundamentals of the sustain- has already signaled tougher assessment
down in mid-February. ability theme. requirements by MSC in the future.
“Even so, this is a big weight off our “IPNLF is surprised and concerned by Already, the MSC is starting to face
shoulders, not least financially, for our the IA’s decision to uphold the determina- pressure to institute reforms, with the
small economies. It is not cheap fending tion of the CAB to re-certify the fishery,” Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) being
off the legal actions by IPNLF, with their the organisation said in a statement issued the latest NGO to jump on the campaign
Queen’s Counsel and team of lawyers, days after the IA’s ruling. wagon.
who were reportedly acting on behalf of “Despite this ruling by the IA, it is still In April, it was calling for the MSC to fast
the commercial interests of their members IPNLF’s belief that the PNA fishery does track reforms to ensure ‘ecological rigour’
who are understood to be mostly small not currently meet the MSC standard and of standards.
scale artisanal pole and line fishermen should not have been recommended for For the PNA, this is something that it is
around the globe,” Ludwig added. recertification. The basic principle that ready for, although it admits “it is becom-
For the pole and liners, this latest fight is should apply is that fisheries should only ing increasingly difficult…to hold certifi-
a breath short of defending their survival be recognised as truly sustainable when cations because of the increased require-
in the global fishing space. all of their fishing operations have been ments and scrutiny of the performance
Over the years, the pole and line fishing subjected to scrutiny, and have been found of vessels, but more broadly the fact that
fleet and its share of yellowfin and skipjack to meet the standard. The MSC itself has entities like the PNAO and Associations do
production has decreased steadily while recently recognised that a system that al- not have control over the vessels.”
the purse seine fleet and production has lows for the artificial compartmentalisation PNA’s free school FAD-free purse seine
mainly trended upwards. of some fishing activities during a single yellowfin and skipjack tuna have been
In essence, pole and line fishing - where trip, while ignoring serious environmental MSC certified since 2011 and since then,
fishing is done manually by fishermen and impacts during the rest of the trip, is not have undergone a previous Independent
fish is caught one by one using fishing a workable solution. This has prompted Adjudication, annual audits, an expedited
poles - is a dying trade. them to revise their policies so that in audit under three CABs and six peer re-
The International Seafood Sustainability future, a fishery will have to be assessed views, all giving it the thumbs up as a
Foundation put the number of pole and against all activities on a target stock on sustainable fishery worthy to carry the
line vessels at between 100 and 120 op- a single trip. Unfortunately, these new acclaimed MSC eco-label.
erating globally in the 1980s and this had requirements have not been applied to PNA, a subgrouping of eight Pacific
dramatically reduced to just 12 in 2012. the PNA fishery and the fishery has been Island countries that are members of the
To date, pole and line fishing contributes exempted for a further three to four years Pacific Islands Forum with the recent ad-
around 10 per cent (over 380,000 metric from implementing measures which the dition of Tokelau under its MSC certifica-
tonnes) of total global yellowfin and skip- MSC themselves have said ‘will help tion programme, is known to control the
jack tuna, according to IPNLF data. further improvement in fisheries.’ No world’s largest sustainable tuna purse
In comparison, purse seine fishing - one has disputed IPNLF’s characterisa- seine fishery.
where nets are used to surround schools tion of the way in which the PNA fishery PNA has 25 per cent of the world’s
of fish and is considered a more effecient operates. During a single trip, most purse tuna stock in its waters and also controls
fishing method - now accounts for over 60 seine vessels will fish on free swimming around 50 per cent of the global supply
per cent of global yellowfin and skipjack schools as well as on FADs (Fish Ag- of skipjack tuna, the most commonly
caught annually. gregating Devices). Despite this, the only canned tuna.
But the IPNLF, standing by the pole part of the fishery assessed was the fish- Its members are the Federated States
and line method as the sustainable and ing activities on free swimming schools, of Micronesia, Kiribati, Marshall Islands,
environmentally friendly way to exploit or so called ‘FAD-free’ tuna. The serious Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Solo-
tuna resources, believes there is room for environmental impacts are associated with mon Islands and Tuvalu.
its growth and ability to increase its supply FAD fishing and FAD use in general by
share as there has been a growing interest the same vessels. This false distinction r dtabureguci@gmail.com

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