The PNA Western & Central Pacific skipjack tuna fishery (PNA skipjack fishery) has had its purse seine fishing operations (see Notes to Editor) targeting free schools of skipjack tuna certified as sustainable against the MSC environmental standard for sustainable and well managed fisheries.
Since entering assessment midway through 2010, the PNA skipjack fishery has demonstrated – through a rigorous, transparent, independent assessment process conducted by Intertek Moody Marine against the MSC Standard, and with the active involvement of many stakeholders – that the skipjack tuna stocks it targets are healthy, that its free school fishing practices have minimal impact on the marine eco-system and that overall the fishery’s free school operations (see Notes to Editor) are sustainably managed.
As a result of the free school fishery’s certification, 30% of the skipjack caught in the PNA fishery, and 16% of the skipjack caught in the WCPFC convention area is eligible to bear the blue MSC ecolabel.
To read the rest of the story, please go to: Marine Stewardship Council
