The Spanish tuna fleet, grouped in Opagac, has become the first fishery in the world to certify the Indian Ocean yellowfin tuna stock with the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) seal, which raises its tropical tuna catches to 95% – approximately 7% of global catches -. Currently, 10 of the 12 tuna stocks caught by the fleet have MSC certification: yellowfin and skipjack from the Indian, Atlantic, Western and Eastern Pacific Oceans and bigeye tuna in the Western and Eastern Pacific.
The fleet obtained the Indian Ocean yellowfin certification after an independent assessment carried out by the entity LRQA (formerly Lloyd’s Register) that analyzed aspects such as the robustness of its data collection systems, the 100% coverage of onboard observers, the responsible management of fish aggregating devices, and the reduction of interactions with protected species. “Being the first to certify Indian Ocean yellowfin is a decisive step towards our goal of having 100% of our catches certified. Reaching 95% certification under the MSC standard is the result of more than a decade of joint work by owners, sailors and scientists voluntarily applying pioneering measures to carry out our activity under the highest sustainability criteria,” said Julio Morón, managing director of Opagac.
