ISSF report aims to identify and promote best practices in tuna and ocean conservation.
Adobe Stock
The International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF) has released its 2023 annual report Navigating Toward Sustainable Tuna Fisheries that includes all its achievements for more sustainable tuna fisheries.
The report aims to identify and promote best practices in tuna and ocean conservation with fishers, vessels, tuna companies and Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (RFMOs).
"We are grateful to ISSF's many vessel partners in sustainable fishing — and we celebrate our multi-faceted collaborations with fishers at sea and on shore," ISSF President Susan Jackson says in the report.
ISSF'S activities also consist in partnerships with nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and scientific agencies and promoting verified accountability through the tuna supply chain.
"Since our founding, ISSF has prioritized — and prized — working closely with fishers, vessel owners and the organizations that represent them to better understand their sustainable-fishing challenges, successes and techniques," Jackson added.
Navigating Toward Sustainable Tuna Fisheries also talks about the importance of adopting electronic monitoring (EM) in all tuna fisheries regardless of vessel type or ocean region.
During 2023, ISSF collaborated in 35 coordinated research projects on ecosystem impacts, tuna stock health and combating Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing activities.
Additionally, 1,575 fishers completed ISSF's Skippers’ Guidebooks to Sustainable Fishing Practices and had access to different workshops where fishers and scientists could exchange information and problem-solving.
Furthermore, the ProActive Vessel Register (PVR) reached more than 1,500+ entries. ISSF provides this public vessel list to promote transparency in tuna fishing.
Finally, it has released the Continuously Improving Global Tuna Sustainability 2023-2027 strategic plan.