(fis.com) The International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF) Board of Directors has adopted a conservation measure to start addressing overfishing by the large-scale tropical tuna purse seiners.
ISSF is proposing keeping new vessels from being introduced into the fisheries. A scientific report published by ISSF notes that the world's purse seiners are catching 65 per cent of the global catch. According to "A Snapshot of the Tropical Tuna Purse Seine Large-Scale Fishing Fleets," if every vessel made five or more fishing trips at maximum capacity each year, the global catch would easily exceed the current level.
According to the ISSF, by 1 January 2013: All processors, importers, transporters and others involved in the seafood industry must stop working with skipjack, bigeye and yellowfin tuna harvested by large scale purse seiners not actively fishing for tuna by 31 December 2012, except for those vessels under contract for construction on or before then with construction completed by 30 June 2015, or in cases where there is a change in the name, flag, or registration number of a vessel. Vessels built as a replacement are also permitted; ISSF will establish a record of large-scale purse seine vessels fishing for tropical tuna globally; ISSF will continue to sponsor regional and global workshops on fleet capacity management, including mechanisms for capacity transfers.
“Experts in fisheries management, economics and international law agree that fishing overcapacity leads to overexploitation and wastes resources. The first step in managing excessive fishing capacity is to stop adding boats,” said Susan Jackson, president of ISSF.
In 2010, the Bellagio Conference on Sustainable Tuna Fisheries was held to offer scientific, fishery and government experts a chance to create an analysis of key issues vital for the management of tuna fisheries.
“The first step towards controlling capacity is to establish limited entry, as might be set up via a closed vessel registry, after which reductions in the number of vessels can be negotiated,” the "Bellagio Framework for Sustainable Tuna Fisheries" noted.
The tuna Regional Fisheries Management Organisations (RFMOs) have created a Consolidated List of Authorized Vessels (CLAV) to document all authorized tuna fishing vessels and their regions. ISSF is helping strictly support those vessels that obtain an IMO number, or an equivalent unique vessel identifier.
Jackson added, “Additional efforts will be needed in order to reduce capacity so that it is aligned with what tuna stocks can sustainably support. Rights-based management is an effective way to address overcapacity, conservation and economic benefits.”