The green action group collaborated with WSP Digital and Australian Marine Conservation Society (AMCS) for the venture and the new app now sits within AMCS’s popular Sustainable Seafood Guide app.
• The iphone app is meant to allow shoppers to make educated, ocean-friendly seafood choices for both fresh fish and canned tuna by ranking all the tuna options and giving abundant information on each one. Seafood eaters can quickly find out vital information on the state of the tuna they want to buy, if they use a good or bad fishing method and if the brand is acting to help preserve Pacific tuna.
The tuna brands within the iphone App were ranked based on the following criteria:
• Sustainability Policy. It is essential that companies have in place an effective policy that ensures their products are produced sustainably.
• Fishing methods used. Most tuna is caught using purse seine nets with fish aggregation devices (FADs), a method responsible for high levels of bycatch including sharks and other marine life as well as juvenile tuna from threatened species. In contrast, pole and line fishing offers a less wasteful solution, with reduced bycatch. Pole and line fisheries also tend to offer greater economic returns to local populations. Purse seine fishing without FADs is an acceptable secondary option.
• Tuna species used. Each tuna species is under different levels of pressure. Bigeye and Yellowfin tuna are overfished and at risk. Skipjack tuna is declining, but is the tuna species of least concern.
• Labelling. Providing comprehensive information on labels gives customers the opportunity to make an informed choice based on the product’s sustainability. Labels should include the species name, catch method and the area the fish was caught in.
• Support for marine reserves and equitable tuna policies. Companies should offer public support for the establishment of marine reserves, including the proposed protected areas known as, the Pacific Commons. This will ensure the long-term sustainability of fish stocks and healthy marine ecosystems. It is equally important that reasonable economic benefits are returned to the countries who own the rights to individual fish stocks.
• Use of illegal or unregulated products Illegal fishing accounts for up to 46% of fishing activity in the Pacific, exacerbating the overfishing crisis. Companies should be able to guarantee their supply chain does not include operators that engage in illegal, unregulated or unreported (IUU) fishing.