Five founding members of TUNACONS have achieved Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification for yellowfin tuna products caught in the Eastern Pacific Ocean.

The Ecuadorian companies involved in the initiative are Negocios Industriales Real NIRSA S.A., Servigrup, and Eurofish, along with Panamanian firm Pesquera Jadran and U.S.-based Tri Marine. The certification covers 47 vessels between the companies and is the first certification for yellowfin tunas school fish sets and fish-aggregating devices (FADs) in the Eastern Pacific.

“This milestone as achieved by the purse-seine tuna fleet is very important news for Ecuador and for the world because Ecuador is the second-largest producer in the world of tuna,” National Chamber of Fisheries (CNP) President Bruno Leone said. “If Ecuador has a large part of its fleet certified, other fleets can follow these good practices and regulations existing from the requirements of the MSC certification. Let’s hope all of Ecuador can come together so all can eventually be MSC-certified.”

Ecuadorian vessels catch approximately 300,000 metric tons of tuna annually in the Eastern Pacific, and 80 percent of its processed tuna products are exported to international markets, with its top market being the European Union.

The companies worked together for three years in a fishery improvement project (FIP) in order to meet these certification needs and standards. In order to achieve MSC certification, TUNACONS had to prove it was maintaining healthy tuna populations, minimizing impacts on the ecosystem, and promoting organized and responsible management of the fishery.

To do this, the participating companies committed to a series of activities including the research and testing of degradable materials for FADs; monitoring and collection of information on catches and bycatch through onboard observers; Implementation of a code of good practices to reduce bycatch, especially of vulnerable species such as sharks, manta rays, and sea turtles; and supporting scientific assessments of tropical tuna populations and promote adoption of conservation measures with the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission and governmental institutions. These measures were implemented with technical support from the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and the Ecuadorian government, TUNACONS said.

Photo courtesy of TUNACONS

The National Marine Fisheries Service and NOAA Fisheries announced proposed changes to vessel speed regulations on Friday, 29 July, with the goal of protecting the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale.

The new restrictions will expand current mandatory seasonal speed restrictions, which limits vessels to 10 knots in designated areas of the ocean, and would extend the speed limits to vessels measuring 35 to 65 feet in length.

“These two efforts are part of our North Atlantic Right Whale Road to Recovery, a strategy that encapsulates all of our ongoing work across the agency and in collaboration with our partners and stakeholders to conserve and rebuild the North Atlantic right whale population,” Janet Coit, assistant administrator for NOAA Fisheries and acting assistant secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere at NOAA, said in a release. “Despite the many challenges we face, including climate change, we must find solutions to mitigate the threats to marine mammals while supporting the livelihoods and economies of our fishing communities who put healthy food on our tables.” 

Right whale protections have been a hot-button topic for the seafood industry. Lobstermen in the U.S. Northeast have had to cope with new rules imposed by NOAA on lobstermen to protect right whales after a court ruling that the fishery was in violation of the Endangered Species Act – new rules a federal judge said still don’t go far enough. The U.S. state of Maine’s congressional delegation, and Maine Governor Janet Mills have criticized both the new rules and the court ruling.

The Maine Lobstermen’s Association said that the new speed limit rules are likely to actually protect whales – unlike the regulations against lobstermen.

“While MLA will examine the proposed changes closely and submit official comments prior to the deadline, we are encouraged that NOAA has finally taken this step to address this very real threat to the North Atlantic right whale,” MLA Executive Director Patrice McCarron said in a release. “As NOAA makes clear, during the past two and a half years alone, it has documented four lethal (death and serious injury) right whale vessel strike events in U.S. waters. Data also show that there has not been a single known right whale entanglement in Maine lobster gear in almost 20 years, and Maine lobster gear has never been linked to a right whale death.”

Environmentalists also applauded NOAA’s efforts, saying it could be a “game-changer” for right whales.

“Given the glacial pace of new right whale protections over the last decade, immediately curtailing the second-biggest threat to their existence would be a game-changer,” said Erica Fuller, senior attorney at Conservation Law Foundation. The Conservation Law Foundation is one of the organizations that sued the federal government over its lack of action on right whales – resulting in the court ruling affecting the U.S. lobster industry.

Fuller added that the new law still has areas to address.

“This proposed rule is a major step forward, but there’s a five-month gap in protection south of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket that should be addressed,” Fuller said. “Federal officials must now get these protections in place on the water as quickly as possible and effectively enforce them.”

Even with potential gaps, conservationists are calling on NOAA to implement the policies as soon as possible.

“The agency has known for years that endangered right whales need more protections from speeding vessels, but it’s failed to act. This proposal is a step in the right direction, but it won’t help a single right whale until it’s actually finalized,” Center for Biological Diversity Oceans Legal Director Kristen Monsell said in a release. "The Fisheries Service needs to get this rule in place as quickly as possible. As right whales spiral toward extinction, they just can’t wait any longer for protections against getting run over and killed by vessels.”  

Photo courtesy of NOAA

Peru’s Ministry of Production (PRODUCE) has called an end to the first anchovy fishing season of 2022 in the country's north-central region, with total catchment reaching 2.34 million metric tons (MT) – or 84.06 percent of the total allowable catch (TAC).

The ports of Chimbote, Callao, Coishco, Malabrigo, and Chancay were the top five ports where anchovy were landed, the head of PRODUCE, Jorge Prado Palomino, said in a release. Chimbote caught 588,000 MT, Callao 283,000 MT, Coishco 260,000 MT, Malabrigo 231,000 MT, and Chancay caught 196,000 MT.

The first season began on 4 May, with a total quota of 2.79 million MT assigned, and officially closed on 24 July. However, during the season it was noted that conditions in the north-central region were challenging. Adriana Giudice, the CEO of Peruvian fishing company Austral Group, told SeafoodSource in June that weather and oceanographic issues were “difficult,” while the high presence of juveniles led PRODUCE to periodically banning fishing activity in certain areas. The Austral Group is owned by Norway-based Austevoll Seafood and produces about 10 percent of the fishmeal and fish oil that Peru exports.

While the season did not reach this year’s TAC, it still caught significantly more fish than in 2021, when the TAC was set to 2.047 million MT. That season, the north-central fishery caught just over 2 million MT, reaching 98 percent of the total quota.

Earlier in July, PRODUCE opened the second anchovy fishing season of the year in the country's south region, setting a TAC of 486,500 MT. That season is slated to run through December, or until the TAC is reached, whichever comes first.

Both the TAC and the final date of the southern region’s second fishing season may also be modified according to biological-environmental conditions, based on findings from the Peruvian Sea Institute (Imarpe) – a technical agency within PRODUCE that advises the state on marine conservation issues and that performs studies to evaluate the status of the Peruvian anchovy biomass.

Peru divides its anchovy fishing areas into two regions – south and north-central – with different capture limits and seasons set for each. The north-central is Peru’s main fishing region, with capture measuring several times that of the south region. The fishery, which targets both Engraulis ringens and Anchoa nasus for use in indirect human consumption – primarily fishmeal and fish oil used in aquaculture production – is the largest by volume in the world.  

Photo courtesy of PRODUCE