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Tuna Partnership - Tuna Conservationists Team Up

By Matt J. Weiss, March 16, 2009 @ 01:00 AM (EST)

McLEAN, VA, March 16, 2009 -- Eminent marine scientists, major figures in the non-profit environmental community and leaders of the seafood industry have joined forces to establish the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF), a non-profit organization developed to respond to the growing threats to global tuna populations. Through this unique and unprecedented partnership, ISSF aims to undertake science-based initiatives to support the long-term conservation and sustainable use of tuna stocks.

“This is an unprecedented collaborative commitment on the part of major industry players to work alongside the world’s premier marine scientists and environmental non-governmental organizations, especially our founding conservation partner WWF, to preserve the world’s marine ecosystem,” said ISSF President Susan S. Jackson.

“Our mission is to help ensure that targeted tuna stocks will be sustained at or above levels of abundance capable of supporting maximum sustainable yield,” said Jackson. “This includes working towards the reduction of by-catch and helping to fund scientific research that supports improved management of tuna stocks. ISSF has already advanced this cause with its first board actions.”

Conservation Measures Enacted

ISSF adopted conservation measures to refrain from using tuna from any boat listed by an RFMO as being engaged in illegal, unregulated, and unreported (IUU) fishing and refrain from using eastern Pacific bigeye tuna after Sept. 1, 2009, unless the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission enacts science-based conservation measures before then.

ISSF participants also committed to sharing relevant catch or purchase data with responsible regional fisheries management organizations (RFMOs) to help ensure that scientific recommendations are made based on the best available information.

While the ISSF founding seafood companies do not deal in the bluefin segment of the industry, which primarily supplies the sashimi market, the board enacted a statement of concern urging the adoption of policies supporting proper management of bluefin in the Atlantic – one of the most threatened of all tuna stocks.

Science Leads the Way

ISSF initiatives will be based on recommendations from the independent ISSF Science Committee, comprised of internationally recognized authorities on marine biology and ecosystems, ocean fisheries and especially tuna sustainability.

The ISSF Science Committee is chaired by Dr. James Joseph. With more than 50 years of scholarship, administrative, and policy-making experience Dr. Joseph is considered by many to be the dean of science based tuna conservation. The committee also includes scientists from each of the tuna RFMOs, the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service and the Commission of the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research. In addition, the ISSF board includes as vice chairman the distinguished marine biologist, author, professor, and international science delegate Dr. William Fox, vice president and managing director for fisheries of WWF-U.S.

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