Tuna are among the world’s most commercially valuable fish.
This strong global demand for tuna and the overcapacity of fishing
fleets will likely cause stocks of the seven major commercial tuna
species to decline if management strategies are not improved.
While WWF has primarily engaged in sustainability efforts with
major global tuna brands, retailers and consumers, the G-FAST
model aims to improve sustainability practices from the very
beginning of the supply chain through directly engaging with tuna
fishing vessel owners.
Working with the regional fleets of the vessels that catch the most
tuna focuses improvements for greatest impact, including setting
the example for other fleets, vessels, and gear types to follow.
G-FAST is supported under the Gordon and Betty Moore
Foundation’s Ocean and Seafood Markets Initiative (OSMI).
Advocacy
Being at the beginning of the supply chain, vessel owners are
uniquely positioned to develop best practice improvements and
implement them broadly.
G-FAST fosters leadership around four conservation priorities:
Establishing precautionary harvest strategies for tuna
species that avoid potential negative future outcomes,
such as overexploitation and biodiversity loss.
Reducing the environmental impact of fishing activities
by developing, implementing and supporting measures,
incentives, technology and techniques to mitigate
bycatch of non-target species.
Promoting fair, transparent, and effective enforcement to
eliminate illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing
and trafficking.
Improving the quality and quantity of fishery data through
comprehensive observer coverage (human and/or electronic)
on vessels. This includes measures to ensure on-board
observer safety and security.
Progress
To date, G-FAST includes ten fisheries currently in fishery
improvement projects (FIPs) to receive certification from the
Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) to use its ecolabel on
commercial products.
The annual combined total catch of tuna from these FIPs is more
than 960,000 metric tons—that’s approximately 20% of all global
catch and represents an increase of over 50% in the 1.6 million MT
of tuna that is already MSC certified or in full assessment.
More than 180 major purse seine vessels are participating
in G-FAST, representing over 20% of the world’s major tuna
purse seiners.
Beyond implementing change onboard, vessel owners in G-FAST
work with their national governments and industries to support the
adoption of new standards and practices at regional fishery
management organizations (RFMOs).
Participating Fisheries
The fisheries participating in G-FAST to accelerate their commitments to a sustainability standard cover all oceans of the world:
The United States Pacific Tuna Group FIP fishes by
purse seine for tropical tuna species across the
eastern, central, and western Pacific Ocean.
• The Indian Ocean Tuna (SIOTI) FIP covers the
catch of skipjack, yellowfin, and bigeye tuna species
from vessels owned by French, Spanish, Italian,
Mauritian, and Seychellois companies.
• The Eastern Pacific Ocean Tropical Tuna Purse
Seine (TUNACONS) FIP covers the international
waters of the Eastern Pacific Ocean (EPO) and the
exclusive economic zones (EEZ) of 7 countries.
• The tuna species under the Eastern Atlantic Purse
Seine Tuna (EASTI) FIP are mainly fished off of the
coast of Gabon and the nutrient-rich waters of
Guinea’s coast.
• The WCPO tuna – purse seine (Dongwon Industries)
FIP fishes off the waters of Pacific island nations and
the high seas.
• The Atlantic Ocean tuna – purse seine FIP fishes for
tropical tuna off the coasts of seven West African
countries.
https://files.worldwildlife.org/wwfcmsprod/files/Publication/file/5zer4pyvv3_G_FAST_09.10.21.pdf
