Seafood professionals, fishermen, retailers, policymakers, scientists and environmentalists from around the globe congregated on the Island of Mahé in the Seychelles on Friday to debate the long-term sustainability of tuna stocks in the Indian Ocean, where almost one-quarter of the world’s tuna is caught.
Titled “Seychelles 2nd Tuna Conference: Taking Stock,” this year’s one-day conference provides an opportunity to assess the progress made since the inaugural conference, which was held in February 2010. The dialogue centers on five themes: bycatch, fishing capacity, chain of custody, stakeholders’ expectations and strengthening the RFMOs (regional fisheries management organizations).
The conference is sponsored by the Seychelles Fishing Authority, International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF) and WM Brands.
Just prior to the conference, SeafoodSource caught up with Adolfo Valsecchi, CEO of France’s MW Brands, which owns the iconic John West canned tuna brand, about what he hopes the conference accomplishes. Valsecchi is also co-chair of the conference with Seychelles Fisheries Minister Peter Sinon.
Hedlund: Which of the conference’s five themes — bycatch, fishing capacity, chain of custody, stakeholders’ expectations and strengthening the RFMOs — would you single out as being the most challenging in assuring the long-term sustainability of the Indian Ocean tuna resource?
Valsecchi: We respect the availability of tuna and fish for tuna in a sustainable way. But bycatch is [a major issue]. The environmentalists, mostly with Greenpeace, say, “You need to mitigate bycatch.” And we say, “Yes, we are trying to mitigate bycatch.” We go to great lengths to ensure that [sharks, sea turtles and juvenile tuna are freed from tuna nets].
What’s at stake for MW Brands? Why is it so important that industry work together with policymakers, scientists and environmentalists on conserving Indian Ocean tuna stocks?
We are responsible. But we are not poets. We are professionals. We know how to manage our future. But we need to do a better job of communicating and [accepting] suggestions from [all stakeholders].
So often it’s just a matter of communication?
Exactly. And we want to be transparent. We want to show environmentalists that we have nothing to hide. We are rational people, not pretending to know everything, and we are open to any realistic, commonsense suggestion.
What is MW Brands doing to improve transparency, not only in terms of communication but also when it comes to the traceability of the company’s tuna products?
We are one of the few companies in the world providing full traceability [of our tuna products]. Every can indicates the tuna species in the can and the ocean where it was caught and contains numbers [that tie it to] a database. We can identify a single lot, a single boat and a single trip so we can document by which boat, in which trip and in which district of the ocean the tuna was caught.
Click here to read last year’s interview with ISSF President Susan Jackson prior to the “Seychelles 1st Tuna Conference.”
