Spanish tuna fleet ‘meets sustainability standards’ for tuna MSC application By Undercurrent News

By Undercurrent News 

The Spanish purse seine tropical tuna fleet, grouped as the Organización de Productores Asociados de Grandes Atuneros Congeladores (OPAGAC), has reached the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification standards for five of its twelve tropical tuna stocks, the group announced.

The five stocks in question include yellowfin, skipjack and bigeye in the Central-Western Pacific, as well as yellowfin and skipjack in the Eastern Pacific. In total the five stocks represent 30% of OPAGAC's annual 380,000 metric ton harvest, or 3% of the global tropical tuna catch.

This is the second year of OPAGAC's Fisheries Improvement Project, which it began in collaboration with the World Wildlife Fund for Nature in 2016. The target is for all 12 tuna stocks to be MSC-certified by 2021.

The FIP found that expectations had been exceeded in four of the regional fishery management organizations where OPAGAC's 47 vessels operate.

Similarly, OPAGAC has aligned its own actions with those in existing tuna FIPs, such as Ecuador's TUNACONS in the East Pacific, and the Sustainable Indian Ocean Tuna Initiative.

OPAGAC also reported in January that it had become the first Spanish tuna fleet to join the UN's Global Compact program, which covers areas such as human rights, labor, the environment, and anti-corruption measures.