By atuna.com
The PNA Western and Central Pacific skipjack tuna fishery is not targeting or harming dolphins, says the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) in a press release issued today.
Last week the Parties to the Nauru Agreement (PNA) said in a statement that the Earth Island Institute (EII), known for its NGO-based Dolphin Safe ecolabel, has informed companies that PNA’s “Pacifical†tuna has not been certified as “dolphin safe†under its program, and therefore cannot be traded or processed by EII members. With this demand, EII is trying to block PNA and Asian tuna processors from working with Pacifical and their MSC certified tuna.
Eight Pacific island countries make up the PNA and their free-school skipjack tuna fishery, traded as Pacifical, was certified sustainable against MSC criteria in January. MSC is recognized as having the most robust and scientific standards for sustainable management of wild fisheries. In 2009, MSC ranked first among six other seafood ecolabels and sustainable certification schemes, according to a report commissioned by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).
The MSC certification report for the PNA’s skipjack tuna fishery, available online, provides independent and peer-reviewed evidence that shows the impacts on dolphins are negligible.
According to MSC to meet its high standards, a fishery must be able to demonstrate that it does not put population levels of any species, caught incidentally, at risk. The PNA has 100% independent observers on board all its vessels at sea to monitor compliance and to register any by-catch, including dolphins.
“The observed catches of dolphins and other marine mammals in these fisheries are very low e.g. around 0.0009% for six different dolphin species. The discard rate is very high (over 99%) and post-release survival is likely to be high,†writes Moody Marine Ltd, the independent third party that carried out the MSC assessment.
EII’s Dolphin Safe program, which has certified more than 400 tuna companies, does not have on-board observers and does not inspect tuna purse seiners while at sea, according to sources within the tuna industry. EII permits captains to self-declare their catches as “dolphin safe.â€
“We do not believe programs, like Earth Island Institute’s program, that allow captains to certify themselves with no verification are relevant or reliable today,†said Maurice Brownjohn, PNA’s commercial manager, last week.
The PNA will discuss the development of its own “PNA- dolphin safe†label at next week’s annual meeting in Alotau, Papua New Guinea. The PNA-dolphin safe label is intended to be free for use by retailers and industry members.
PNA Members are Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Tuvalu. Together, they supply half of the world’s skipjack tuna – the most popular tuna for canned products.