Area 34 (Atlantic, Eastern Central)

Overview

The Ghana tuna pole & line FIP has been jointly established by key governments in the region, major tuna processors, producer organisations and their fishing vessels, with the support of WWF. This FIP is a multi-stakeholder effort, and its goal is to support improvement in the management of tuna fisheries in the Atlantic Ocean so that in the future, consumers can be assured that the pole and line tuna they purchase has been harvested sustainably. The ultimate aim is to meet the standards of the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC).

Pole and line fishing is highly selective and the volume of tuna unfit to canneries is marginal. Tuna unfit for tuna canneries are sold to local markets, mostly through Tema and to some extent Abidjan.

The fleet catches mainly skipjack (2/3 of their total catch) and yellowfin tuna (currently around 1/3) as target species, in association with bigeye tuna. To catch tuna, the pole and line vessel vessels use drifting fish aggregating devices (DFADs) and small pelagic fish caught in Ghana waters as bait.

Target species: this FIP will consider the following three pelagic tuna species as the target species: skipjack tuna (Katsuwonus pelamis), yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares) and bigeye tuna (Thunnus obesus)

Fishing methods: This FIP will include the use of pole and line catching of individual tuna.

Fishing area: The fishing area is the Atlantic Ocean under the jurisdiction of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna.e.g. FAO Statistical Areas 34.

Fishing fleet: The fishing fleet currently numbers 17 vessels fishing for, or on behalf of, the FIP participants. The exact nature of the fleet will be clarified as the FIP partnership evolves, and will be assessed in detail during FIP action planning. However, it is recognised that the fishing fleet might change over time if the FIP partnership is enlarged or decreased.

The Ghana tuna pole & line FIP has been jointly established by key governments in the region, major tuna processors, producer organisations and their fishing vessels, with the support of WWF. This FIP is a multi-stakeholder effort, and its goal is to support improvement in the management of tuna fisheries in the Atlantic Ocean so that in the future, consumers can be assured that the pole and line tuna they purchase has been harvested sustainably. The ultimate aim is to meet the standards of the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC).

FIP at a Glance

View current status
November 01, 2018
29% 61% 11%
Progress Rating (A) Advanced Progress

Reserved for comprehensive FIPs that have achieved a Stage 4 or 5 result within the past 12 months.

(B) Good Progress

A basic FIP that has achieved a Stage 4 or 5 result within 12 months.

(C) Some Recent Progress
  • A FIP that has achieved a Stage 4 or 5 result in more than 12 (but less than 24) months AND has reported a Stage 3 activity within the past six months.
  • A FIP younger than 12 months that has never achieved a Stage 4 or 5 result but has reported a Stage 3 activity within the first 12 months.
(D) Some Past Progress
  • A FIP that has achieved a Stage 4 or 5 result in more than 12 (but less than 24) months BUT has not reported a Stage 3 activity within the past six months.
  • A FIP for which the most recent Stage 4 or 5 result is more than 24 (but less than 36) months old AND a Stage 3 activity has been reported within six months.
  • A FIP 12-36 months old that has never reported a Stage 4 or 5 result AND has reported a Stage 3 activity within the past six months.
(E) Negligible Progress
  • A FIP for which the most recent Stage 4 or 5 result is more than 24 (but less than 36) months old, with no Stage 3 activity reported in the last six months.
  • A FIP younger than 12 months with no Stage 3 activity reported within 12 months.
  • A FIP 12-36 months old that has never reported a Stage 4 or 5 result AND has not reported a Stage 3 activity within the past six months.

The ratings are currently derived by SFP from publicly available data on FIP websites, including FisheryProgress.org, and are determined using the following methodology: View PDF
A Advanced Progress
Actions Complete

This pie chart represents completed environmental actions. Non-completed environmental actions may contain completed sub-tasks that are not illustrated here. For more information on environmental action progress visit the Actions Progress tab.
  • Complete
  • Incomplete
Next Update Due FisheryProgress requires a FIP to provide update reports every six months, and two missed reports will render the FIP inactive. If a report is overdue, this date will appear red.
Mar 2024
Target End Date
Dec 2023

FIP Leads

Organization Name 
Thai Union
Organization Type 
Industry
Primary Contact 
Francisco Leotte
Email 
Francisco.Leotte@thaiunion.com
Website Name 
Thai Union
Organization Name 
Key Traceability
Organization Type 
Consultant
Primary Contact 
Becky Caton
Email 
b.caton@keytraceability.com
Website Name 
Key Traceability
FIP Identification Number The FIP Identification Number is automatically generated by FisheryProgress when a FIP profile is created. While the number itself is not meaningful, they are used by NGOs, academia, and industry to refer to FIPs in a consistent way.
9870

Overview

The Mauritanian Small Pelagic FIP was initiated by a partnership between the Mauritanian fishery authority, the Mauritanian oceanographic and fisheries research institute (IMROP), local businesses, and international fishmeal and oil buyers. The fishery consists of artisanal and coastal purse seine and pelagic trawl vessels targeting mainly sardine (with some other small pelagics according to availability and current regulations) in Mauritanian waters. The FIP aims to support the government in working towards robust management and long-term sustainability of the resource, and also in other policy aims around improving value-added and support to food security. The MarinTrust Standard was initially chosen as the benchmark for the assessment and work plan but in 2021 a MSC pre-assessment was conducted and the workplan revised so that it now addresses both standards.

This FIP has recently progressed to IFFO RS V2 and has created a new profile to reflect this new benchmarking and actions.

Refocus the fishery on the human consumption market

Following the national policy objective, an increasing proportion of small pelagic landings from the fishery enter human consumption supply chains, rather than FMFO supply chains. FMFO production comes increasingly from byproducts of processing for human. The FIP aims to also support the vessels and factories in improving their systems (quality, handling, sanitary processes, traceability, certifications) and making investments towards human consumption supply chains by:

  • Keeping FIP participants informed about issues around quality, sanitary processes, traceability, international markets etc
  • Working with MPEM to ensure that improvements to infrastructure in the port and factory areas of Nouadhibou continue to be prioritised
  • Supporting factories with certifications

The Mauritanian Small Pelagic FIP was initiated by a partnership between the Mauritanian fishery authority, the Mauritanian oceanographic and fisheries research institute (IMROP), local businesses, and international fishmeal and oil buyers. The fishery consists of artisanal and coastal purse seine and pelagic trawl vessels targeting mainly sardine (with some other small pelagics according to availability and current regulations) in Mauritanian waters.

FIP at a Glance

View current status
August 01, 2017
57% 18% 25%
Progress Rating (A) Advanced Progress

Reserved for comprehensive FIPs that have achieved a Stage 4 or 5 result within the past 12 months.

(B) Good Progress

A basic FIP that has achieved a Stage 4 or 5 result within 12 months.

(C) Some Recent Progress
  • A FIP that has achieved a Stage 4 or 5 result in more than 12 (but less than 24) months AND has reported a Stage 3 activity within the past six months.
  • A FIP younger than 12 months that has never achieved a Stage 4 or 5 result but has reported a Stage 3 activity within the first 12 months.
(D) Some Past Progress
  • A FIP that has achieved a Stage 4 or 5 result in more than 12 (but less than 24) months BUT has not reported a Stage 3 activity within the past six months.
  • A FIP for which the most recent Stage 4 or 5 result is more than 24 (but less than 36) months old AND a Stage 3 activity has been reported within six months.
  • A FIP 12-36 months old that has never reported a Stage 4 or 5 result AND has reported a Stage 3 activity within the past six months.
(E) Negligible Progress
  • A FIP for which the most recent Stage 4 or 5 result is more than 24 (but less than 36) months old, with no Stage 3 activity reported in the last six months.
  • A FIP younger than 12 months with no Stage 3 activity reported within 12 months.
  • A FIP 12-36 months old that has never reported a Stage 4 or 5 result AND has not reported a Stage 3 activity within the past six months.

The ratings are currently derived by SFP from publicly available data on FIP websites, including FisheryProgress.org, and are determined using the following methodology: View PDF
A Advanced Progress
Actions Complete

This pie chart represents completed environmental actions. Non-completed environmental actions may contain completed sub-tasks that are not illustrated here. For more information on environmental action progress visit the Actions Progress tab.
  • Complete
  • Incomplete
Next Update Due FisheryProgress requires a FIP to provide update reports every six months, and two missed reports will render the FIP inactive. If a report is overdue, this date will appear red.
Feb 2024
Target End Date
Dec 2025

FIP Leads

Organization Name 
IMROP
Organization Type 
Other
Primary Contact 
Cheikh-baye Braham
Email 
baye.braham@gmail.com
Website Name 
IMROP
Organization Name 
Olvea
Organization Type 
Industry
Primary Contact 
Jo Gascoigne
Email 
jo.gascoigne@cantab.net
Website Name 
Olvea
FIP Identification Number The FIP Identification Number is automatically generated by FisheryProgress when a FIP profile is created. While the number itself is not meaningful, they are used by NGOs, academia, and industry to refer to FIPs in a consistent way.
9490

Overview

Tropical tuna purse seine fishery in the Eastern Atlantic targeting yellowfin, skipjack and bigeye tuna. This area is under the mandate of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), the regional tuna fisheries management organisation (RFMO) in the Atlantic Ocean. This FIP is a multi-stakeholder effort, and it's goal is to support improvement in the management of tuna fisheries in the Eastern Atlantic Ocean so that in the future, consumers can be assured that the purse-seine tuna they purchase has been harvested sustainably. The ultimate aim is to meet the highest standards of sustainable fishing, such as the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) standard.

Target species: this FIP will consider the following three pelagic tuna species as the target species: skipjack tuna (Katsuwonus pelamis), yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares) and bigeye tuna (Thunnus obesus).

Fishing methods: this FIP will include the use of purse seines by large (e.g. >60 m) specialist purse seine vessels. Set by these vessels can be made in two different ways: 1. Free-schools: vessels seek (sometimes with the assistance of helicopters) large schools of tuna which are usually fished during daylight. 2. Associated sets: vessels that utilise the natural aggregation of tuna around floating objects to harvest fish. These floating objects can include natural logs (and other large debris), large marine animals such as whale sharks, and around purpose-built drifting FADs.

Fishing area: the fishing area is the Eastern Atlantic Ocean under the jurisdiction of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) e.g. FAO Statistical Areas 34 and 47 including the high seas and tuna fishing zones of Coastal States' waters within these areas.

Fishing fleet: the fishing fleet to be covered by this FIP currently consists of industrial purse seine fishing vessels operating in the Eastern Atlantic Ocean and varying in length from around 50m to 100m.

Note: Currently, Fisheryprogress.org can only track MSC Performance Indicator (PI) Scores for one target species at a time. In the case of this FIP, which encompasses three different types of tuna, PIs will be tracked for the species that is most threatened within the fishery.

 

The Eastern Atlantic tropical tuna Ghana purse seine fishery improvement project targets Atlantic Ocean bigeye (Thunnus obesus), eastern Atlantic Ocean skipjack (Katsuwonus pelamis), and Atlantic Ocean yellowfin tuna (T. albacares) stocks on the Atlantic Ocean high seas and the Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs) of Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Benin. The fishery sets on both free-school tuna or schools associated with floating objects (FOBs) either naturally occurring such as logs or artificial drifting fish aggregation devices (FADs). All vessels in the fishery are flagged to Ghana and are owned by owned by the fishing companies within the Ghana Tuna Association (GTA). The vessels land in Tema (Ghana). The fishery is managed regionally by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) and the Ghana’s Fisheries Act (2002) through the Ghana Fisheries Commission (GFC). The fishing companies have further management measures in place and coastal states management measures also apply depending on where the vessels are operating.

The FIP was originally comprised of vessels flagged to Ghana, France and Spain however as the vessels are under different management measures, the fleets have progressed at different rates whilst working towards achieving MSC certification. To this end, the FIP participants made the decision to divide the FIP into its different components. This FIP will now report on the progress of the Eastern Atlantic Ocean Tropical Tuna Ghana Purse Seine fishery.

Tropical tuna purse seine fishery in the Eastern Atlantic targeting yellowfin, skipjack and bigeye tuna. This area is under the mandate of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), the regional tuna fisheries management organisation (RFMO) in the Atlantic Ocean. This FIP is a multi-stakeholder effort, and it's goal is to support improvement in the management of tuna fisheries in the Eastern Atlantic Ocean so that in the future, consumers can be assured that the purse-seine tuna they purchase has been harvested sustainably.

FIP at a Glance

View current status
January 01, 2018
11% 68% 21%
Progress Rating (A) Advanced Progress

Reserved for comprehensive FIPs that have achieved a Stage 4 or 5 result within the past 12 months.

(B) Good Progress

A basic FIP that has achieved a Stage 4 or 5 result within 12 months.

(C) Some Recent Progress
  • A FIP that has achieved a Stage 4 or 5 result in more than 12 (but less than 24) months AND has reported a Stage 3 activity within the past six months.
  • A FIP younger than 12 months that has never achieved a Stage 4 or 5 result but has reported a Stage 3 activity within the first 12 months.
(D) Some Past Progress
  • A FIP that has achieved a Stage 4 or 5 result in more than 12 (but less than 24) months BUT has not reported a Stage 3 activity within the past six months.
  • A FIP for which the most recent Stage 4 or 5 result is more than 24 (but less than 36) months old AND a Stage 3 activity has been reported within six months.
  • A FIP 12-36 months old that has never reported a Stage 4 or 5 result AND has reported a Stage 3 activity within the past six months.
(E) Negligible Progress
  • A FIP for which the most recent Stage 4 or 5 result is more than 24 (but less than 36) months old, with no Stage 3 activity reported in the last six months.
  • A FIP younger than 12 months with no Stage 3 activity reported within 12 months.
  • A FIP 12-36 months old that has never reported a Stage 4 or 5 result AND has not reported a Stage 3 activity within the past six months.

The ratings are currently derived by SFP from publicly available data on FIP websites, including FisheryProgress.org, and are determined using the following methodology: View PDF
A Advanced Progress
Actions Complete

This pie chart represents completed environmental actions. Non-completed environmental actions may contain completed sub-tasks that are not illustrated here. For more information on environmental action progress visit the Actions Progress tab.
  • Complete
  • Incomplete
Next Update Due FisheryProgress requires a FIP to provide update reports every six months, and two missed reports will render the FIP inactive. If a report is overdue, this date will appear red.
Jun 2024
Target End Date
Dec 2028

FIP Leads

Organization Name 
Key Traceability Ltd.
Organization Type 
Consultant
Primary Contact 
Becky caton
Email 
b.caton@keytraceability.com
Website Name 
Key Traceability
FIP Identification Number The FIP Identification Number is automatically generated by FisheryProgress when a FIP profile is created. While the number itself is not meaningful, they are used by NGOs, academia, and industry to refer to FIPs in a consistent way.
7547

Overview

Note: This FIP went inactive on April 2, 2019.

The National Sole Fishery Co-Management Committee (NASCOM), The Department of Fisheries of the Ministry of Fisheries, Water Resources and National Assembly Matters of The Gambia and the Atlantic Seafood Company Ltd. are committed partners to this FIP.  NASCOM has been delegated management responsibility and exclusive use rights to the sole fishery and associated marine catfish fishery in the artisanal zone (out to 9 nautical miles along the Atlantic coast) in a gazetted Sole Fishery Co-Management Plan. NASCOM is coordinating this FIP.

Note: This FIP went inactive on April 2, 2019.

FIP Leads

Organization Name 
National Sole Fishery Co-Management Committee (NASCOM)
Organization Type 
NGO
Primary Contact 
Dawda Fodey Saine
Email 
dawda_saine@yahoo.com
Phone 
+220 745 3623
FIP Identification Number The FIP Identification Number is automatically generated by FisheryProgress when a FIP profile is created. While the number itself is not meaningful, they are used by NGOs, academia, and industry to refer to FIPs in a consistent way.
6351

Overview

What is a Completed FIP?

Completed FIPs are those that have independent verification that they have achieved their environmental objectives and/or graduated to MSC full assessment or other program assessment. Completed FIPs no longer report on their environmental performance but may choose to voluntarily report on their social performance.

Date of Completion: Aug 2020

Explanation of Completion: This FIP entered MSC full assessment in 2020 and achieved certification in 2021 but it is continuing to report on its social performance.

Completion Link

This FIP encompasses all global tropical tuna stocks of three species: bigeye tuna (Thunnus obesus), skipjack (Katsuwonus pelamis) and yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares) for a total of 13 Units of Certification. In the case of this specific sub-FIP for the Atlantic Ocean, we deal with four stocks of tunas: two for skipjack (eastern and western), and one each for bigeye tuna and yellowfin tuna.

Because of the set-up of this webpage, the overarching FIP was broken into four sub-FIPs according to the relevant RFMO (IATTC, ICCAT, IOTC, and WCPFC). The reasoning behind this division is that each RFMO has different scores and actions for the various MSC principles, in particular Principles 1 & 3. Had we grouped all RFMOs we would not have been able to neither present nor track the various activities and timelines in a cohesive, clear and comprehensive manner.

Perfil de FIP en Español

This FIP encompasses all global tropical tuna stocks of three species: bigeye tuna (Thunnus obesus), skipjack (Katsuwonus pelamis) and yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares) for a total of 13 Units of Certification. In the case of this specific sub-FIP for the Atlantic Ocean, we deal with four stocks of tunas: two for skipjack (eastern and western), and one each for bigeye tuna and yellowfin tuna.

FIP at a Glance

View current status
October 01, 2016
11% 57% 32%
Progress Rating (A) Advanced Progress

Reserved for comprehensive FIPs that have achieved a Stage 4 or 5 result within the past 12 months.

(B) Good Progress

A basic FIP that has achieved a Stage 4 or 5 result within 12 months.

(C) Some Recent Progress
  • A FIP that has achieved a Stage 4 or 5 result in more than 12 (but less than 24) months AND has reported a Stage 3 activity within the past six months.
  • A FIP younger than 12 months that has never achieved a Stage 4 or 5 result but has reported a Stage 3 activity within the first 12 months.
(D) Some Past Progress
  • A FIP that has achieved a Stage 4 or 5 result in more than 12 (but less than 24) months BUT has not reported a Stage 3 activity within the past six months.
  • A FIP for which the most recent Stage 4 or 5 result is more than 24 (but less than 36) months old AND a Stage 3 activity has been reported within six months.
  • A FIP 12-36 months old that has never reported a Stage 4 or 5 result AND has reported a Stage 3 activity within the past six months.
(E) Negligible Progress
  • A FIP for which the most recent Stage 4 or 5 result is more than 24 (but less than 36) months old, with no Stage 3 activity reported in the last six months.
  • A FIP younger than 12 months with no Stage 3 activity reported within 12 months.
  • A FIP 12-36 months old that has never reported a Stage 4 or 5 result AND has not reported a Stage 3 activity within the past six months.

The ratings are currently derived by SFP from publicly available data on FIP websites, including FisheryProgress.org, and are determined using the following methodology: View PDF
Not yet available
Actions Complete

This pie chart represents completed environmental actions. Non-completed environmental actions may contain completed sub-tasks that are not illustrated here. For more information on environmental action progress visit the Actions Progress tab.
  • Complete
  • Incomplete
Target End Date
Sep 2021
Additional Impacts:
TraceabilityIUUEcosystemOther

FIP Leads

Organization Name 
OPAGAC
Organization Type 
Industry
Primary Contact 
Dr Julio Morón
Email 
julio.moron@opagac.org
Phone 
+34 91 431 48 57
Website Name 
http://www.opagac.org
Organization Name 
WWF
Organization Type 
NGO
Primary Contact 
Raul Garcia Rodriguez
Email 
pesca@wwf.es
Website Name 
Smart Fishing
FIP Identification Number The FIP Identification Number is automatically generated by FisheryProgress when a FIP profile is created. While the number itself is not meaningful, they are used by NGOs, academia, and industry to refer to FIPs in a consistent way.
1521

Pages

Subscribe to Area 34 (Atlantic, Eastern Central)