Pacifical launches social guidelines for MSC tuna fisheries

Pacifical, the marketing company for the Parties to the Nauru Agreement's seafood industry, has introduced new social guidelines designed to safeguard the fishermen onboard purse-seiner vessels fishing for tuna in PNA waters, much of which is certified by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) as sustainably caught.

The guidelines outline Pacifical’s new minimum requirements regarding the employment, social protection, health and safety, accommodation and medical care of fishermen in its waters, according to PNA Commercial Director Maurice Brownjohn.

“There is no sustainably managed fishery without the people who participate in it,” Brownjohn said. “We are excited to introduce our Social Accountability Guidelines, ensuring to millions of worldwide buyers of MSC-certified tuna carrying the Pacifical logo, that not only are these products in line with the strictest ocean ecosystem conservation certification scheme, but also that the fishermen behind their MSC-certified tuna products, are being treated fairly and according to a social guideline that safeguards their welfare.”

The new guidelines are consistent with relevant international labor standards, such as the ILO Convention concerning work in the fishing sector and FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries. However, the absence of any binding legal instrument applying to all flag states (and the commercial fishing vessels under those flags), means the guidelines will remain only recommendations and not requirements for the boats fishing in PNA waters, Pacifical said in its press release.
“[It] remains a challenging obstacle to the enforcement of workers’ rights at sea,” it said.

The new guidelines are meant to cover the approxmately 5,000 fishermen on more than 300 industrial fishing and transport vessels from more than 10 different nations fishing for yellowfin and skipjack tuna in PNA waters.

“Pacifical seeks to urge all vessel owners involved in the PNA MSC fisheries to start implementing these guidelines,” the group said in its release.

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