The International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF) said tuna fisheries worldwide made “significant progress” in management and conservation in 2013, according to the ISSF’s latest report.
The report, Enabling Sustainability through Engagement & Advocacy, highlighted ISSF efforts to improve tuna fisheries, and Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (RFMOs) the group has worked with.
“ISSF’s mission is dependent upon the support and actions of many,” said ISSF President Susan Jackson. “While the group of stakeholders engaged on issues of tuna sustainability is broad and diverse, our many common goals make working together not only possible, but essential.”
The ISSF helped various RFMOs with, among other achievements, establishment of data management and tracking systems that will improve the sustainability of the tuna fisheries. The RFMOs included the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission, the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission, the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas, and the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission.
“Moving forward, ISSF will focus more than ever on utilizing science-based approaches to advance tuna stock sustainability that are both implementable by key stakeholders and that evolve as new best practices are defined,” said ISSF Chairman Juan Corrales. “We collaborate with those from all fields and backgrounds who are committed to working together to ensure the long-term sustainability of global tuna stocks and their ecosystem.”