Australia’s once overfished southern bluefin tuna fishery has made a recovery, cemented by its recent Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification.
The nation first identified southern bluefin tuna as a threatened species in 2010; it was delisted in 2024 after more than a decade of what the Australian Southern Bluefin Tuna Industry Association (ASBTIA) called “long-term, science-based fisheries management, international cooperation, and vigorous quota enforcement.”
ASBTIA CEO Daniel Casement called the certification, the first given to a southern bluefin tuna fishery, a “humbling” yet exciting milestone that was only achieved through the partnership of many fishery stakeholders.
The southern bluefin fishery is an especially important economic driver in ASBTIA’s home base of Port Lincoln, Australia, where all of the nation’s tuna ranches are located and where the vast majority of its tuna quotas are owned.
“This is recognition for decades of innovation, commitment to conserving southern bluefin tuna, and [ABSTIA] developing as a global leader in tuna production,” Casement said.
MSC Program Director for Oceania and Singapore Anne Gabriel agreed, saying that “with its successful MSC certification, the southern bluefin tuna fishery is now recognized as one of the most sustainable fishing operations in the world."
"This certification is not just a badge of honor but proof that sustainable fishing practices can reverse environmental challenges,” she said.
Australia’s Minister for the Environment and Water Tanya Plibersek added that “environmental conservation and sustainable industry go hand in hand."
"The Australian tuna-fishing industry has done such terrific work that the southern bluefin tuna population is now healthy,” she said.
In its 2024 report, the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF) said that tuna stocks are recovering worldwide, with 11 of the 23 major commercial fishing stocks now meeting the MSC-standardized stock target biomasses. ISSF noted that Pacific Ocean bluefin stocks had been recovering especially well
Marcus Stehr, managing director of Port Lincoln-based offshore tuna-ranching firm Stehr Group, said that the MSC certification for the southern bluefin fishery has been “a long time coming and means so much to us.”
“The way the modern global seafood consumer sees our product, there are so many choices out there for consumers now, so it’s very important that ASBTIA has MSC accreditation in place to help our consumers to make better decisions. It will also help us access new markets and stay competitive in the global seafood environment,” Stehr said.
