The Marine Stewardship Council on Wednesday announced the first skipjack tuna fishery has been certified as sustainable and well managed.
The Japanese Tosakatsuo Suisan Group pole- and line-caught skipjack fishery comprises about 50 distant-water vessels, 25 of which are active in the fishery. The fishery lands about 40,000 to 50,000 metric tons of tuna, with the Suisan Group’s boats catching about 10 percent, or about 4,000 metric tons.
“We are proud to have achieved independent verification that our skipjack tuna pole-and-line fishery, which has been developed by Japanese fishermen for centuries, is indeed a sustainable fishing tradition,” said Hiroyuki Myojin, president. “With our certification we hope to saves Japan’s proud tradition of skipjack tuna pole-and-line fishing from extinction and preserve it for generations to come.
“We also hope it will contribute to Japanese consumers’ awareness of the importance of sustainable fisheries. We will continue our efforts to make this fishery shine again.”
