A small UK distributor of tuna is making a major bet on pole-and-line tuna by launching TV commercial on UK national television. Back in 2009, two seasoned tuna industry professionals became fed up with the harsh realities of the “intensive purse seine fishing” standard that uses fish-aggregating devices (FADs). Rising to action, Bryn Scadeng and Angela Fitzpatrick formed the Reel Fishing Company with one goal in mind: to provide sustainable canned tuna to the market. Today, the Reel Fishing Company has a new TV commercial airing in the UK that promotes their pole-and-line caught tuna from the Maldives.
In the 30-second ad, the company educates viewers about how their tuna is caught one at a time by fishermen equipped with nothing but fishing poles. Unlike purse seiners that fish using FADs, the traditional pole-and-line method ensures other marine life, such as sharks, manta’s and turtles, are not harmed. It is considered, along with free school fishing by purse seiners, as one of most eco-friendly way to catch tuna and it also supports the livelihoods of coastal fishing communities involved in the fisheries.
