Ecuadorian tuna conservation group Tunacons, which is carrying out a fishery improvement project involving the country's purse seiners, will soon enter the full assessment phase in its quest to gain Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification, the group has said.

The group's MSC process will apply to the purse seine fishery for sets on tuna schools and fish aggregating devices in the Eastern Pacific Ocean, the group said in a press release.

The pre-assessment phase for the fishery began in 2016 and has been improved through a fishery improvement project, the group said. 

Tunacons members include Ecuadorian tuna companies Negocios Industriales Real Nirsa, Eurofish, Jadran Group, Servigroup and the US firm Tri-Marine International. The group said earlier that it is on track to achieve the Marine Stewardship Council certification by 2020.

The five companies representing 45 tuna vessels, which caught over 113,500 metric tons of tuna in the Eastern Pacific Ocean in 2016.

Source: undercurrentnews.com

Ecuador will become the first member of the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC) to have a national action plan (PAN) for its tuna fisheries when the project is completed in the next few weeks.

The PAN will serve as a guide to the Ecuadorian government providing short, medium and long-term actions to improve the sustainable management of the fishery. The plan covers all aspects of the fishery, including monitoring, information gathering, scientific research, reduction of impacts on ecosystems, its control system and any sanctions and technological changes.

The plan is the product of Tunacons, a tuna conservation project made up of Ecuador's four biggest tuna fisheries: Real Industrial Businesses (NIRSA), Jadran, Servigrup, Eurofish and the US tuna giant Tri Marine.

The PAN reportedly took one year to create and will be the subject of a workshop in the next few weeks with all the actors involved to ensure its implementation becomes a permanent government policy.

According to Tunacons, the only other country in the world with an internationally recognized action plan for tuna is the Marshall Islands, part of the Parties to the Nauru Agreement. Ecuador already has management plans on the use of fish aggregating devices, as well as for mahi mahi, pomada shrimp and sharks.

Source: undercurrentnews.com

Tunacons, un FIP que entra en su recta final

Nirsa, Eurofish, Jadran, Servigrup y Trimarine son las atuneras ecuatorianas que están detrás de Tunacons, Tuna Conservation Group, una alianza que pretende allanar el camino, vía FIP, de la flota del país sudamericano…

Sources:

http://www.industriaspesqueras.com/edicion_impresa/476/2139/flota_atunera/65617/tunacons__un_fip_que_entra_en_su_recta_final_-p1.html

tunacons.org