A pole-and-line tuna fishery in South Africa has achieved Marine Stewardship Council certification.
The certified fishery is operated by ICV Africa out of Cape Town and Hout Bay. Half of the company’s catch, or average annual total of 2,500 metric tons, has been certified as meeting MSC’s standard.
“Sustainability is integral to our business. Fishing sustainably is not only about ensuring that tuna stocks remain healthy; it is also about protecting the ocean ecosystem and the other species that our vessels interact with. Our clients, and increasingly the end consumers, expect it of us,” ICV Africa CEO Michelle Bellinger said. “We have always believed in MSC certification and the benefits that the recognition could bring to our fishery and the work that we do.”
The fishery is the first from MSC’s “In-Transition” program to achieve certification since the initiative was created in 2020 to assist certain fisheries reach the MSC standard within a five-year period. ITV originally engaged with MSC in 2018 through the four-year Fish for Good project, funded by the Dutch Postcode Lottery, which aimed to guide fisheries in South Africa, Indonesia, and Mexico towards more sustainable fishing practices. It subsequently received money from MSC’s Ocean Stewardship Fund in 2020 to pay for better data collection including fishery observers, as well as a review of endangered, threatened, and protected species that may interact with the fishery. ICV Africa subsequently implemented training on the safe handling of such species, particularly seabirds.
“This certification demonstrates that pathways do exist for all kinds of fisheries to promote their responsible practices and, where necessary, to improve their practice in order to gain MSC certification,” MSC Africa Program Director Michael Marriott said. “This is good news for the ocean, for livelihoods, and consumers.”
Most of the albacore caught by ICV Africa is sold to processors for canning and sale to supermarkets in the U.S. and Europe. A second client group from the same fishery, represented by the South African Sustainable Tuna Association (SASTUNA), is currently in assessment against the MSC standard.
Now in its fifth year, MSC’s ITM program will transition from a pilot to a permanent version to be called the MSC Improvement Program, by the end of 2024.
“The program will be transparent, time-bound, and independently verified, offering a credible route for fisheries to make progress towards certification against the MSC’s fisheries standard,” the organization said in a press release.