May 23, 2017 — The following was released by the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation:
The International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF) released its 2016 annual report today, Best Practices, Better Solutions, which outlines tuna sustainability achievements and argues for continuous improvement of global tuna fisheries through collaboration and advocacy.
“ISSF marked its seventh anniversary in 2016, and I’m proud to have been part of this unique organization from the beginning,” said ISSF President Susan Jackson in her opening letter. “Through our many activities and partnerships over the years — made possible by progressive tuna companies and other funders — we have deepened our understanding about what it takes to ‘be’ sustainable, and to advance the cause.”
Best Practices, Better Solutions focuses on ISSF’s collaborations on “best practices” in tuna and ocean conservation sustainability with fishers, tuna companies, retailers, regional fisheries management organizations (RFMOs), and other governing bodies, working closely with nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), scientific agencies, and charitable foundations.
Report Highlights
The report offers these special features:
- Spotlights on fish aggregating device (FAD) management, electronic monitoring and reporting, and harvest control rules — including timelines that track best-practice milestones 2009-2016 as well as graphics showing RFMO proposal activity
- Graphics documenting skipper acceptance of best practices, including bycatch mitigation techniques
- Charts showing tuna stock status based on catch and abundance
- Table with Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) performance indicator averages for global tuna fisheries
- Summary of ISSF advocacy efforts, including joint letters, blogs, and RFMO side events
- Graphic showing how RFMO proposals track with ISSF advocacy priorities
- Reflections from outgoing ISSF Board chair Juan Corrales
It also covers these notable ISSF achievements:
- Five new tuna companies joined as participating companies in 2016.
- ISSF Skippers Workshops were held in China and Vietnam for the first time; a record 343 vessel crew were trained in 2016 workshops.
- In North America, Europe, and Africa 32 retailers that purchase tuna have incorporated ISSF guidelines in their procurement policies.
Conservation Measures & Commitments Compliance Report
ISSF’s annual report also serves as the platform to share the organization’s annual Conservation Measures and Commitments Compliance Report. The report shows a conformance rate of 97.5 percent by 28 ISSF participating companies as of March 31, 2017 — up from 95.6 percent in November 2016 — across 21 ISSF conservation measures in effect in 2016. Twenty-two of 28 companies were fully compliant across all measures.
The report tracks ISSF participating companies’ progress in conforming with measures like these:
- Tracing tuna products by fishing and shipment vessels, fish species, ocean, and other factors
- Establishing and publishing policies to prohibit shark finning and avoiding transactions with vessels that carry out shark finning
- Conducting transactions only with purse seine vessels whose skippers have received information about best practices from ISSF, such as on reducing bycatch
- And, newly in effect in 2016, if tuna is caught by purse seine vessels, only sourcing it from those registered on the ISSF ProActive Vessel Register, a tool for transparency regarding best practices at sea
As part of its commitment to transparency and accountability, ISSF engages third-party auditor MRAG Americas to audit ISSF participating companies — assessing their compliance with ISSF’s conservation measures. MRAG Americas conducts independent auditing based on a rigorous audit protocol.
In addition to a summary report, MRAG Americas issues individual company reports that document in detail each organization’s compliance with ISSF’s conservation measures. ISSF publishes these individual company compliance reports on its website.
ISSF Participating Companies account for about 75% of the global canned tuna market.