Ahead of the upcoming meeting of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC), taking place from 1 to 5 December in Manila, Philippines, Pacific Island nations have developed a joint, science-based proposal for the management of South Pacific albacore.
Simultaneously, the Global Tuna Alliance (GTA) has launched the “Anchor Albacore’s Future” campaign to highlight the importance of adopting a predictable management plan for the tuna species.
Albacore stock in the South Pacific, which is an important source of tuna for the Japanese sashimi and U.S. canned albacore markets, is not currently overfished, but stakeholders are warning in the leadup to the meeting that without proper management procedures in place, sustainability can quickly erode.
According to the GTA, which represents 41 retailers, seafood brands, and supply chain companies worldwide, there are multiple examples around the globe of improper management quickly resulting in threatened livelihoods for fishers and a deterioration of market trust.
In the Indian Ocean, for instance, past overfishing of yellowfin tuna has led retailers including Tesco, Co-op, Carrefour, and Princes to halt or drastically reduce sourcing, and in the Northeast Atlantic Ocean, mackerel lost its Marine Stewardship Council certification and continues to be the victim of coastal nation infighting, similarly prompting several major retailers to consider suspending sales.
“Those examples show how quickly buyer trust unravels when science isn’t followed,” GTA Executive Director Daniel Suddaby said. “Retailers and brands require assurance that the fisheries they buy from are stable, well-managed, and future-proof.”
To ensure the same situation doesn’t play out within the South Pacific albacore fishery, Pacific Island nations have developed a proposal for the upcoming WCPFC meeting.
“In the past 30 years, the South Pacific albacore stock has been able to sustain Samoa's small-scale tuna longline industry, especially for our local vessels. Now, it’s worrying that there is a belief that the stock is still biologically safe. For small islands like Samoa, what matters now is finding ways to manage investment in our exclusive economic zones [EEZs] because the fishery is economically unstable. Otherwise, investments overshoot profitability, causing economic hardship for our small countries,” said Roseti Imo, the assistant chief executive officer of the Fisheries Division within Samoa's Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries.
A representative from the Oceanic island of Niue also emphasized that a management plan could improve economic conditions in the region.
“We call on the WCPFC to adopt the South Pacific Albacore Tuna Management Procedure at WCPFC22 next month in Manila,” the representative said. “Failure is not an option because this issue has been on the table for a number of years. South Pacific albacore is a key species in our Niue EEZ; we want to improve the economic conditions for the fishery and boats to return to our waters.”
A number of GTA members have voiced support for the proposal, drafted by the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA), including U.S. retailer H-E-B.
“As a seafood retailer committed to responsible sourcing, we depend on fisheries that are managed transparently and sustainably,” the retailer said. “We support the FFA members’ proposed management procedure for South Pacific albacore at the WCPFC as an essential step to safeguard the fishery’s future and maintain confidence in the supply chain.”
“As a retailer committed to sourcing fish and seafood sustainably, we recognize the importance of effective management procedures to safeguard the future of the South Pacific albacore fishery,” a spokesperson for Aldi South added. “We firmly support the FFA members’ proposed South Pacific albacore management procedure to the WCPFC, which ensures both ecological sustainability and economic viability while ensuring our continued sourcing of albacore from the region.”
GTA’s “Anchor Albacore’s Future” campaign, meanwhile, is the result of years of scientific research, building industry support, and developing relationships with Pacific Island nations, according to the alliance.
Last year’s annual WCPFC meeting established the first-ever set of labor standards by a tuna regional fishery management organization and created a new set of interim standards for electronic monitoring. However, it failed to take action on regulating at-sea transshipment.
“There were a number of really good outcomes from the meeting. There were a couple of things that we were really looking forward to as a win that we have been advocating for for some time,” International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF) Vice President of Policy and Research Holly Koehler said of the 2024 meeting.
