Tag: purse seine

Purse seine tuna fishery supplying FCF Taiwan achieves MSC status

Categories NewsPosted on
Republished from Undercurrent News, 22 June 2018
Photo: Greenpeace

A Taiwanese purse seiner hauls its catch in the western Pacific. Photo: GreenpeaceA purse seine tuna fishery in the western and central Pacific shared by the US, China and Taiwan — and supplying tuna company FCF Fishery of Taiwan — has achieved Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification.

The South Pacific Tuna Corporation (SPTC), in conjunction with FCF and the Western Pacific Sustainable Tuna Alliance, announced the central Pacific skipjack and yellowfin free-school purse seine fishery had achieved and received the MSC standard on June 22.

The fishery is operated by US, China, and Taiwan-flagged vessels. Authorized vessels principally fish for skipjack and yellowfin tuna within the exclusive economic zones of countries that are Parties to the Nauru Agreement, as well as the high seas.

“This certification is an important step we have worked diligently towards to meet the standards of MSC. We are proud to be the leader in driving sustainable practices, as well as establishing a standard that exceeds that of the NGO community,” said Ray Clarke, vice president of environmental development and government affairs at SPTC.

According to Clarke, the companies will now provide in excess of 100,000 metric tons of MSC-certified tuna to the global market.

The certification comes amid Greenpeace allegations of labor abuses on tuna vessels supplying FCF Taiwan. However, Taiwanese fishing authorities have said the allegations refer to old cases, while industry sources have also queried the connection with FCF.

Cooks govt wins court case over EU fish deal

Categories NewsPosted on

 Republished from Radio New Zealand, 22 December 2017

Cook Island workers handling a yellow fin tuna that was off-loaded from a fishing ship into a shipping container in Avarua on Rarotonga.
Yellow Fin tuna in the Cook Islands. Photo: Marty Melville / AFP

The Aronga Mana of Te Au O Tonga, or the village chiefs, along with Te Ipukarea Society claimed the government’s deal with the EU lacked a full environmental impact report and was not consulted on widely enough.

In her decision, Justice Potter did question the absence of scientific information on the number of fishing days allowed, the effectiveness of a short term ban on fish aggregating devices and what she called soft catch limits, but ultimately ruled in the government’s favour.

The secretary of Marine Resources, Ben Ponia, says the judgment will serve as a landmark case for both the Cook Islands Constitution and customary law governing fisheries.

He says it was a highly technical and complex case but he believes the judge saw that government’s efforts to develop offshore fisheries were credible and legitimate.

Te Ipukarea Society president, Ian Karika, says they are disappointed but heartened that Justice Potter highlighted concerns over the deal.

Decision to increase bigeye tuna catch limit criticised

Categories NewsPosted on

Republished from SciDev.Net, 12 December 2017

Member countries and territories of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) have agreed to adopt measures to conserve stocks of tropical tuna even as conservation groups criticised the decision to increase the catch limit of bigeye tuna.According to consensus reached at the 14th regular session of the commission which concluded on 8 December in Manila, the “bridging measures”, such as regulating and monitoring the use of fish aggregating device (FAD) and long lines of baited hooks, will be in place for three years while WCPFC members prepare a comprehensive tuna harvest strategy covering catch limits and spawn stocks.“Conservation and management measures shall ensure, at a minimum, that stocks are maintained at levels capable of producing maximum sustainable yield, pending agreement on target reference points as part of the harvest strategy approach,” said the draft agreement (7 December).

The 26-member WCPFC, the governing body for international agreement on migratory fish in the Pacific, are composed mostly of small island states in the Pacific but also include developed countries such as Australia, Canada, Japan and the United States.

The WCPFC said the use of FADs will be prohibited for three months in the exclusive economic zones (EEZs) and two months in the high seas. Exempted are Kiribati-flagged vessels operating in the high seas adjacent to Kiribati’s EEZ and Philippine vessels fishing in corresponding situations.

Decision to increase bigeye tuna catch limit criticised
A bigeye tuna catch. Copyright: Panos

FADs are semi-permanent floating structure made from any materials used to lure fish such as tuna. But FADs end up trapping other marine animals like sharks, sea turtles and dolphins, and also catch young tuna, precluding them from breeding.

Conservation and public interest groups welcomed the measures, but were critical of the commission’s decision to increase the catch limit of bigeye tuna by nearly 10 per cent. Critics have pointed out that the Commission misinterpreted the Scientific Committee’s report in August as suggesting that the bigeye is not overfished.

Holly Koehler, vice-president, International Seafood Sustainability Foundation, Washington, explains the scientific committee of the WCPFC had referred to uncertainty in the bigeye stock status and recommended to maintain the current level so as not to decrease biomass.

“That’s why we asked that fishing mortality on bigeye and yellowfin tuna stocks not increase from current levels to maintain current or increased spawning levels until the commission can agree on appropriate target reference points,” Koehler tells SciDev.Net.

Amanda Nickson, a director at Pew Charitable Trusts, says raising the catch limit will weigh on the bigeye’s biomass. “Commission members should ensure negotiations start immediately toward a stronger measure next year, to ensure precautionary, science-based management of its fisheries,” she says.

The western and central Pacific Ocean accounted for nearly 60 per cent of the global tuna catch in 2016, worth over US$ five billion.