AGAC certified tuna volume for all species reaches 265,000 tonnes, and 46 certified purse seine vessels

AGAC achieves Marine Stewardship Council certification for skipjack tuna from all ocean regions

SPAIN
Thursday, April 25, 2024, 01:00 (GMT + 9)

First fishery in the world to certify skipjack populations in the four oceanic regions (Indian, Atlantic, East Pacific, and West Pacific).

With this certification, AGAC reaches 265,000 tons of tuna certified under the MSC sustainable fishing standard

The Association of Large Freezer Tuna Vessels (AGAC) has obtained the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification for skipjack tuna (Katsuwonus pelamis) for all its fishing methods, both with fish aggregation devices (DCPs or FADs for their acronym in English) as a free school in the Atlantic. With this certification, AGAC manages to have the most relevant stocks of skipjack tuna in the world certified, with a total of 212,474 tons. AGAC's certified tuna volume for all species reaches 265,000 tonnes, and 46 purse seine vessels are certified.

The fishery began the process of full certification under the MSC Fisheries Standard in 2020 with a comprehensive approach to evaluate all its operations in all four oceans. The total volume of AGAC amounts to 300,000 tons of tuna, which represents 3% of the world's tuna catches.

Photo: AGAC/MSC

In 2022, 12 Units of Certification (UoC) achieved certification, which translates to 180,000 tonnes and 44 ships certified. The evaluation units (Unit of Assessment, UoA) that did not achieve certification continued to implement improvement actions through various fishery improvement projects (FIPs). Finally, this year, AGAC has completed the certification process for new species and ocean regions.

Eight freezer tuna seiners capture skipjack tuna in the Atlantic Ocean: the Albacora Quince and the Albacora Caribe belonging to the Albacora S.A. group; Monteraiola, Montelape, Montecelo, and Montefrisa Nueve, from the Grupo Central Tuna Management Corporation and the ships Sant Yago Uno and Sant Yago Tres, from Jealsa.

This certification of the Atlantic skipjack comes from an expansion in the scope of the certification that AGAC already had for Atlantic yellowfin tuna. This area is managed by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna (ICCAT).

Certified tuna will be able to carry the MSC blue seal after having demonstrated the sustainability of the fishery once it has successfully passed the most demanding fisheries audit process against the MSC Fisheries Standard. This standard is widely recognized as the most rigorous and credible extractive fisheries sustainability assessment process in the world, based on three principles: healthy fish populations; minimizing the impact on the marine environment as a whole; and an effective fisheries management system.

The fishery has undergone a comprehensive assessment by Lloyds Register (now LRQA), which employed some of the most renowned tuna scientists in assessing tuna fisheries against the MSC Fisheries Standard.

Some of the main strengths of this fishery are that according to scientific reports, the biomass of the population is and has always historically been above the level corresponding to the maximum sustainable yield, and it has never been overfished. Also, there is very extensive information on this population, including stock abundance and structure, detailed fleet composition, and detailed reports of the assessment unit's catches. There is a recent stock assessment from 2022 that is fully adapted to the biology of the species assessed. In addition, the activities of the ships of this certification are permanently monitored with 100% observation coverage by both human and electronic observers.

AGAC and the MSC at the Barcelona Fair

Additionally, the fishery has shown great leadership by implementing a Code of Good Practice (CGP) since 2012 to address impacts on non-target species, including the adoption of non-entangling FADs. Compliance with the CGP is verified annually by the independent scientific organization AZTI[1]. All companies and vessels included in the certification have adhered to this binding Code of Good Practices. The fishery has made great strides in reducing the impact of FADs on vulnerable habitats and the ecosystem by leading the transition to biodegradable FADs and monitoring this transition through the observer program.

AGAC and MSC at the Seafood Expo Global in Barcelona

This Wednesday, within the framework of the Seafood Expo Global, which takes place in Barcelona from April 23 to 25, an event was held to recognize the work and effort in favor of sustainable fishing that AGAC has carried out during these years, which has been culminated with the certification for skipjack tuna from all oceanic regions (Indian, Atlantic, East Pacific, and West Pacific). The event was chaired by Rupert Howes, CEO of MSC, and had the participation of Julio Morón, managing director of AGAC.

“Getting around 80% of our catch certified under the Marine Stewardship Council's Sustainable Fisheries Standard seemed impossible in 2012 when we started our Code of Good Practices. The fact that all skipjack tuna stocks that we exploit are certified also reflects that the fisheries management of the RFMOs[2] is giving results. We aspire to reach 100% of our catch certified in the coming years, working collaboratively in the ORPs with all countries and actors in this global fishery.”

Julio Morón, managing director of AGAC.

“From MSC we want to congratulate all AGAC companies, skippers and crew. They have achieved great success by obtaining MSC certification for skipjack tuna in all four oceans. This impressive milestone has been achieved thanks to the leadership and commitment of AGAC. They have invested in improving their sustainability practices, including minimizing bycatch and impact on ETP species[3], and are looking to take this achievement further by targeting 100% of their catches to be certified in the next years. To this end, they have committed to a continuous improvement program. “We see strong momentum with the incorporation of sustainable tuna into the market and this new certification will make even more sustainable tuna available to consumers.”

Rupert Howes, CEO Marine Stewardship Council

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