Category: Leadership
International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF)
ISSF is a global partnership among scientists, tuna processors (representing approximately 75 percent of the world’s canned and shelf-stable tuna production), and WWF. ISSF works to improve the long-term sustainability of global tuna stocks and their ecosystem by developing and implementing verifiable, science-based practices, commitments and international management measures that result in tuna fisheries meeting the Marine Stewardship Council certification standard. ISSF achieves its goals serving as a convener of common interests and a partner advocating for continuous improvement. ISSF’s recommendations for fishers and vessel owners, supported by the purchasing policies of the ISSF member companies, include a variety of science-based commitments such as tracing tuna from capture to plate, not sourcing tuna from vessels on IUU lists, and sourcing only from companies and vessels that do not engage in shark finning. ISSF has coordinated and led six research cruises in all the major oceans and shared the research through workshops hosted in communities around the world, fostering a direct dialogue and having an immediate impact on the practices of fishers who supply the world’s processors with tuna. ISSF also directly supports a number of sea turtle conservation projects around the globe by identifying and helping fund local, on-the-ground projects.
