PNA wary of tuna alerts

THE Parties to the Nauru Agreement (PNA) has expressed its concern about the ongoing “alerts to consumers” from Earth Island Institute regarding Pacifical, a commercial initiative of PNA nations to trade sustainably harvested tuna from PNA waters.
PNA chairman Sylvester Pokajam said the Earth Island Institute was issuing alerts to consumers and directing processors and buyers that Pacifical was not part of its ‘dolphin safe” programme and therefore could not be traded, or considered “dolphin safe”.
“It is true that neither PNA nor Pacifical are part of the Earth Island Institute programme,” he said.
“But PNA’s tuna is sustainably harvested and has a much higher standard of marine conservation and management.”
“Further our standards are independently verified, something no other programme can claim.”
The PNA is made up of eight Pacific Island countries that control the world’s largest sustainable tuna purse seine fishery, supplying 50% of the world’s skipjack tuna (a popular tuna for canned products).
Part of their management of tuna fishing includes controlling bycatch of other species in a broad ecosystem approach.
PNA director Dr Transform Aqorau said: “There are many sustainability labelling programmes for tuna globally and PNA has attained Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification for free school skipjack that its fishery and ecosystem is sustainable – a world first.”
“In light of our findings of the invalidity of other programmes being pushed in our fishery, we are actually working on development of our own PNA sustainable dolphin safe label which will be a symbol for our sustainable management of the whole ecosystem, and available to all sustainably caught tuna from our waters, without charge or trade limitations.
“This will be discussed and released following the next annual meeting of the PNA in Alotau, Papua New Guinea.”
PNA commercial manager Maurice Brownjohn called on interested civil society stakeholders, regional bodies, fishing industry players, processors, traders, and retailers to lend their support to PNA developing a credible standard and providing to the consumers a reliable “dolphin safe” sustainability standard for all tuna from the PNA region.