COMPLETED Western and Central Pacific Ocean tuna – longline (Yaizu)

Fukuichi Fishery Co., Ltd., a Japanese seafood processing company, conducted a MSC pre-assessment in 2018 for patner fisheries  which operate longline tuna in the Pacific Ocean, Pre-assessment report showed the fishery needs improvement on Principle 2, ecosystem impact, although Principle 1, target stock, and Principle 2, effective management, were conditional pass level. It was identified in the pre-assessment report that one of the weakness of the fishery was limited information/data about bycatch and bait. 

To address the issues and achieve and maintain MSC certification, Fukuichi Fishery launches a FIP which has 2 stages as below:

Stage 1 (Sep 2019 - Aug 2020): lanunch and implement FIP focusing on Principle 2 and partially on P1 and P3

Stage 2 (Sep 2020 - Mar 2022): conduct full-assessment and achive MSC certification

Scope of the fishery:

Target species: yellowfin, albacore and bigeye

Fishing method: pelagic long line

Definition: Japanese vessels with "pelagic long line tuna" license which operate in WCPO and land at Yaizu port