Anova Seafood is accusing member nations of the Parties of the Nauru Agreement (PNA) in the South Pacific of having “minimal” interest in abiding by Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) guidelines on sustainable skipjack tuna fishing, despite the PNA getting MSC certification earlier this year.
In an open letter to PNA tuna boat owners dated 22 October, Anova Seafood Director Willem Huisman said Anova still has a “strong interest” in buying MSC-certified skipjack tuna from PNA countries, but the company has had trouble finding any.
According to the letter, Anova “closely and enthusiastically” followed the MSC’s process of certifying the skipjack free school fishery in the Western and Central Pacific, within the borders of the eight PNA nations: Federate States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, and Tuvalu.
According to the letter, after the PNA received its certification in January 2012, Anova “warmly welcomed the news,” and created a memorandum of understanding between the company and the PNA fishing industry, with the hope of supplying MSC-certified skipjack tuna from the PNA to customers by the summer of this year.
“However, to our great disappointment we have learned that since the beginning of 2012 tuna fishing companies in the PNA have not completed any successful trail trips for the MSC, and that generally motivation throughout the PNA tuna fishing industry to start fishing sustainable according to the principles of the MSC has been minimal,” Huisman wrote in the letter.
Huisman also said the company has learned that PNA boat owners still fish at the same rate using fish aggregating devices (FADs), resulting in “unsustainable catches.”
Huisman called on the owners to begin sustainable fishing practices immediately, adding that Anova will pay “a premium price” for sustainably-caught tuna.
“Anova Seafood is committed to work towards developing a sustainable supply of responsible caught seafood product and ensuring high quality sustainable fish for future generations,” he wrote.
