John West Australia, WWF-Australia (WWF) and the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) have come together to create the single biggest brand commitment to put a stop to unsustainable fishing methods within the Australian canned tuna industry.
The alliance between the three entities comes after years of working in tandem to remedy and polish John West’s supply chain standards. By way of the alliance, the prominent tuna canner, WWF and MSC hope to promote a more sustainable future for the world’s, and Australia’s, oceans.
"Our oceans are in crisis due to a history of mismanagement by humanity. As a result of a collaborative effort by WWF, MSC and John West, Australians will now see over 100 million cans of clearly labelled MSC certified sustainably sourced tuna in supermarkets. The magnitude of this – affecting a huge 43 percent of Australia's canned tuna – make this a world first. Sustainability in Australia has just taken a mighty step forward thanks to the leadership of John West Australia," said WWF Australia CEO, Dermot O'Gorman.
"MSC is the world's most credible sustainability standard for wild caught fish, a process which requires independent third party auditors to evaluate a fishery's performance against the most robust sustainability standards available globally," O'Gorman continued.
John West is confident that its position will aid in bringing awareness to the fall in fish species populations utilized by humans, and the need for sustainable seafood on a global scale.
"In 2012, we pledged that by the end of 2015, John West Australia would only source purse seine caught skipjack tuna caught using independently verified FAD-Free methods. After three years of extensive research, close collaboration with MSC and WWF, I am proud to announce that this target has been met and exceeded. Not only are we sourcing FAD free but we have made sure it is MSC certified sustainable and completely traceable from ocean to can," said Graham Dugdale, John West Executive Director for the Commercial division.
"This is the largest offering of MSC labelled canned tuna in the world. By completely transforming their supply chain to source from MSC certified sustainable fisheries John West are leading the way to help ensure our oceans stay healthy and teeming with life for generations to come. We are proud to be alongside John West as they make this significant change and congratulate them on this monumental move to help keep our oceans healthy," added Patrick Caleo, MSC Asia Pacific Director.
"However our commitment extends much further and aims not only to educate, but also ingrain this perspective. We must position ocean sustainability as the 'norm' and only option moving forward," concluded Dugdale.
The commitment will continue through 2016, confirmed the entities.
