John West tuna. (Photo: John West)

John West, WWF and MSC partener to ensure tuna fishery future

John West New Zealand, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) and PNA sustainable fishery marketing company, Pacifical, have joined efforts to develop an initiative towards a more sustainable future for the world’s oceans.

The decision started with John West’s commitment to sourcing tuna exclusively caught through sustainable fishing methods and to exclusively source MSC certified tuna.

The partnership between John West, WWF, MSC and Pacifical is the result of years of the entities working together to overhaul John West’s supply chain to source from the gold standard in certified sustainable seafood in the Pacific region.

All John West skipjack tuna sold in New Zealand is now MSC certified, proving John West New Zealand’s commitment to safeguard our oceans for future generations.

In this regard, WWF-New Zealand Head of Campaigns Peter Hardstaff pointed out, “Globally, our oceans are in crisis due to a history of mismanagement by humanity. As a result of the collaborative effort by WWF, MSC and John West, New Zealanders now have the choice to buy cans of clearly labelled Pacifical MSC certified, sustainably caught tuna in supermarkets for the first time. This is a major step forward for sustainable fishing in the Pacific, where the tuna is sourced, thanks to the leadership of John West New Zealand."

Hardstaff stressed that MSC is the world’s most credible sustainability standard for wild caught fish, a process which requires independent third party auditors to evaluate a fishery’s performance against the most robust sustainability standards available globally.

The MSC certified skipjack tuna is being sourced from the world’s largest sustainable purse seine fishery, which is controlled by the Parties to the Nauru Agreement (PNA).

The 8 Pacific Island nations united within the PNA are world leaders in tuna conservation and management with many global firsts, such as high seas closures to fishing, observers on 100 per cent of purse seine fishing vessels, fishing day restrictions and the certification of its FAD-free purse seine skipjack tuna as MSC Sustainable in 2011. 50 per cent of the world’s supply of skipjack tuna is controlled by PNA.

The size of marine populations has declined by almost half (49 per cent) between 1970 and 2012, however John West New Zealand is confident its position will aid in bringing awareness to the issue on a global scale.

editorial@seafood.media
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