Tuna

Launched on March 16, 2009 at the Boston Seafood Show, the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF) is a global partnership among scientists, the tuna industry and WWF, the global conservation organization. Its mission is to undertake science-based initiatives for the long-term conservation and sustainable use of tuna stocks, reducing bycatch and promoting ecosystem health.

Click here to learn more about Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (RFMO).

Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (RFMOs) are primarily responsible for managing the world’s tuna stocks -- skipjack, yellowfin and albacore tuna, the species most commonly processed for canned and shelf-stable tuna products. The tuna RFMOs are well intentioned, grounded in good science and in many instances have been effective, but unfortunately their parliamentary procedures too often allow the short-term economic and political interests of some of their member nations to trump good science. ISSF wants to ensure that effective management practices are in place to maintain the health of all the tuna stocks.

What gives ISSF a unique and unprecedented role in advocating for the conservation and sustainable use of the ocean’s resources is our broad coalition. As a non-governmental organization, ISSF is positioned to minimize the impact of a single government imposing
its interests on an entire region’s shared tuna stock. By encouraging nations to support the best and most current scientific models, the result will be a more consistent, multinational and holistic approach to the management of global tuna stocks.

Conservation Measures

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 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.

Under its principles of governance, ISSF will:

• Work with RFMOs to achieve their objectives of conservation of tuna stocks and their ecosystems;
• Employ sound science to ensure that the targeted tuna stocks are at or above levels of abundance that can support the maximum sustainable yield;
• Strive to eliminate illegal, unregulated and unreported tuna catching;
• Provide for the health and care of the marine ecosystem;
• Facilitate use of the precautionary approach in conservation and management;
• Support efforts to minimize by-catch, discards and abandoned gear;
• Collect and exchange data to promote better scientific understanding of tuna stocks;
• Support certification programs that meet the 2005 eco-labeling guidelines of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization.