The Maldives Seafood Processors and Exporters Association (MSPEA)–from now on- will issue a validation certificate for all exports of Maldives pole-and-line skipjack tuna caught within its Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certified fishery.
The Maldives Seafood Processors and Exporters Association (MSPEA) is essentially protecting its product through the certificate and it wants buyers (e.g. European supermarkets) to make sure what they are buying carries such a document. This way they can be assured that it is Maldives MSC certified Pole and Line tuna that has passed the MSC approved Chain of Custody, and has been caught and processed within the Maldives. If MSC canned pole and line skipjack tuna is sold as coming from the Maldives, but does not carry a MSPAE validation certificate, then the retailers “need to question its origins” says the MSPEA.
The International Pole and Line Foundation (IPNLF) have praised the new initiative. Dr. Hussain Rasheed Hassan, chairman of the IPNLF, said: “It is vital to the survival of fisheries such as the Maldives pole-and-line skipjack fishery that the catch achieves its full market potential. MSC certification was a big step towards realizing this potential and now that MSC-certified Maldivian skipjack has started to arrive in European supermarkets, the new validation certificate gives further peace of mind to those companies that have supported Maldivian tuna.”