Dr. Luis Ambrosio, with extensive experience in the subject, he made the progress assessment of progress of the fishery improvement project to achieve the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification. Ambrosio considered the status of the actions of each principle required by the MSC and the achievement of the indicators.
It can be concluded that the pace at which the FIP TUNACONS is advancing is positive, and considering the projection of the activities to be carried out in 2018, the progress of the actions is expected to increase.
Projecting this progress, for Principle No. 1 contemplates the development of a Pilot Project to implement a system of individual catch limits per vessel with the objective, among others, of reducing the mortality of small tuna.
The principle where there is the greatest challenge, according to the evaluator’s considerations, is Principle No. 2; on the management of non-entangled FADs.
In the Eastern Pacific Ocean, sets on floating objects (including FADs) include 69% of tuna fishing. This generates pressure on the development of strategies to avoid the capture of non-target species.
Among the specific objectives of these FAD management strategies are:
- Achieve a record of floating objects with their characteristics.
- Improve the collection of information for scientific advice purposes.
- Contribute to the knowledge of the composition of the catch in the sets of FADs.
- Increase knowledge of these devices with respect to their technical characteristics and their possible impact on ecosystems.
- Establish mechanisms to exchange information among operators, scientists and administrations, in order to achieve a better understanding and its implications.
It has developed a deep research, prototypes and tests with different materials submerged in cages and in deep sea to check their resistance to the saline ecosystem. TUNACONS has an extensive report of follow-ups, findings and experiences. Efforts are currently being made to the raw abaca fabric, although they are studying the possibility of reinforcing it with a natural coating that extends the durability, since the search for the ideal “EcoFAD” is still ongoing.
As another of the actions to contribute to the development of principle 2 of the MSC, monitoring programs should be implemented with on-board observers on ships of lower class 6 classes. Therefore, the INP Director has been discussed so that the program of Training and training of the observers is in charge of the National Fisheries Institute.
For principle 3 it is expected to have greater progress during 2018 according to the products that are expected to be received from the two consultants that have been contracted to make the list of primary and secondary species, and the National Tuna Plan.