November 4, 2014 — The following was released by the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation:
The International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF) has adopted a new resolution regarding purchases from its Proactive Vessel Register (PVR) and has amended two past resolutions related to vessel capacity and illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (IUU) in order to broaden existing coalition policies. The three resolutions, along with their timelines for implementation, are summarized below:
Resolution 14-06: To Amend Resolution 12-02 Capacity Reduction
“We continue to be concerned that there are too many boats on the water and we need to remove incentives for the construction of new vessels if we are to reduce this number,” said ISSF President, Susan Jackson. “Resolution 14-06 is to help RFMOs manage capacity reduction in line with the 2011 recommendation by the Third Joint Meeting of Tuna RFMOs.”
Resolution 12-02 adopted a conservation measure that processors, traders, importers, transporters and others involved in the seafood industry beginning January 1, 2013, refrain from transactions in skipjack, bigeye and yellowfin tuna caught by large scale purse seine vessels that are not actively fishing for tuna, or under contract for construction, as of December 31, 2012 or a replacement for an existing vessel. For the purpose of supporting this conservation measure, ISSF established a Record of large-scale purse seine vessels fishing for tropical tunas globally. The Record, which is publicly available, draws upon the information available in the tuna RFMO vessel registers, as well as information provided by the fishing industry. Resolution 14-06, which replaces Resolution 12-02, includes new stronger provisions for controlling the addition of large-scale purse seine vessels to the ISSF Record. In addition, Resolution 14-06 is explicit that a large-scale purse seine vessel not on the ISSF Record, will not be eligible for listing on the ISSF ProActive Vessel Record (PVR).
For more details on how this Resolution 14-06 will be implemented, click here.
Resolution 14-05: Regarding PVR Purchases
“The ISSF Proactive Vessel Register is an effective, credible and verifiable way for vessel owners to highlight, for purchasers to see, the sustainability efforts they have taken,” said Susan Jackson. “Resolution 14-05 will make sure that purchasers and processors are purchasing tuna from vessels that are taking steps to adopt best practices as demonstrated by the PVR checklist.”
ISSF adopts Resolution 14-05 so that, by December 31, 2015, processors, traders, importers, transporters and others involved in the seafood industry that source skipjack, yellowfin and bigeye tuna from large-scale purse seine vessels, must source 100% of that tuna from vessels that are registered in the ISSF PVR. And that, during 2015, those commercial stakeholders who traditionally source skipjack, yellowfin and bigeye tuna from large-scale purse seine vessels will progressively increase sourcing that tuna from vessels that are registered in the ISSF PVR, in line with the sourcing guidelines each Participating Company published in 2014.
The purpose of Resolution 14-05 is to enhance the implementation of purse seine fishing best practices via vessel participation on the ISSF ProActive Vessel Register (PVR). The PVR can help processors, traders, importers, transporters, and others involved in the seafood industry identify those vessels that are undertaking meaningful sustainability efforts and supporting ISSF commitments.
Resolution 14-04: To Amend Resolution 09-01 on IUU Fishing
“The IUU lists maintained by RFMOs identify fishing vessels engaged in illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing activities broadly described, and include not just fishing vessels but also vessels involved in transshipment,” said Susan Jackson. “Recognizing that IUU fishing activity is aided through high seas transshipment activities, adopting a conservation measure that ensures traders, importers, transporters and others involved in the industry refrain from transactions in tuna transported by transshipment vessel(s) on the IUU Vessel List of any RFMOs is the appropriate next step to our IUU measures already in place.”
Resolution 14-04, which replaces Resolution 9-01 in its entirety, expands the scope of the existing conservation measure, which addresses fishing vessels, to call on traders, importers, transporters and others involved in the seafood industry to also refrain from transactions in tuna transported by transshipment vessel(s) on the IUU vessel list of any tRFMO.