A pole-and-line caught skipjack and albacore tuna fishery in Japan has achieved Marine Stewardship Council certification for sustainability.
Meiho Fishery, established in 2012 in Shiogama-city, Miyagi Prefecture, became only the third fishery in Japan to achieve MSC certification on Monday, 17 October (the previous two MSC-certified Japanese fisheries are Kyoto flathead flounder and Hokkaido scallops).
“This milestone marks a new chapter for fisheries in the Tohoku region, and signals that collaboration, hard work and commitment has the power to improve the health of fish stocks, and provide hope for the many in the region who rely on this fishery for their livelihood,” MSC said in a press release.
Meiho Fishery CEO Kenji Matsunaga founded the company after the damage caused by the Eastern Japan Great Earthquake in March 2011 resulted in a shortage of skipjack tuna entering the local market. Today, Meiho has two pole-and-line fishing boats that catch a combined 3,000 metric tons of skipjack and albacore tuna annually.
“My experience of the earthquake made me realize that delivering sustainable seafood to the market is inevitable for [the] future and this belief inspired me to start this sustainable fishery,” Matsunaga said. “I therefore am very delighted that our fishery is certified by the MSC. Recently this fishery's parent company Meiho Co. Ltd., a processor, gained MSC Chain of Custody certification for all seafood from this fishery, and my next agenda is to promote our sustainable skipjack and albacore tuna caught by pole-and-line in the market.”
Independent certifier Acoura Marine conducted the assessment of the fishery’s sustainability and impact on the environment and management system and deemed it in compliance with MSC standards.
“I sincerely congratulate Meiho Fishery and CEO Matsunaga, who has made every effort to get this fishery certified,” Kozo Ishii, MSC’s program director in Japan, said. “I hope this certification will further develop Meiho’s business as well as raise Japanese public awareness on the importance of well managed sustainable fishery.”
