MSC recertification for PNA's tuna fishery

The Parties to the Nauru Agreement (PNA) tuna purse seine skipjack and yellowfin fishery is to undergo reassessment to the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) Fisheries Standard.

A third party independent auditor, Acoura Marine, has been contracted by the PNA to undertake the reassessment.

Pacifical c.v., the global tuna marketing company jointly set up by eight PNA countries in 2011 to promote its MSC certified sustainably caught tuna, said that the process should go smoothly and that deliveries of Pacifical MSC tuna will continue uninterrupted through 2017.

“In order to continue guaranteeing all our loyal customers around the world that our FAD free skipjack and yellowfin stock and fisheries meet the world's highest certification standard on sustainability, our PNA ministers and officials have been actively working to set up all required management measures and to put harvest control rules in place,” it said.

“With the latest skipjack assessment by WCPFC demonstrating an even improved and healthy spawning stock biomasses and the recent renewal of our PNA MSC Chain of Custody (COC) until 2019, which remains one of the most comprehensive COC systems in the industry, we are positive this reassessment will be a success.

”This full reassessment is part of the lifecycle of MSC certification, which has to be undertaken every five years. Recertification will ensure that the blue MSC label remains on Pacifical MSC certified products.Recertification of the PNA skipjack and yellowfin fishery is scheduled for August 2017.

PNA member countries are the Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Tuvalu.Together the countries have 25% of the world tuna stocks in their waters.

Author: 
Worldfishing&aquaculture