This New Yearbook Reveals A Rising Demand For Sustainable Tuna

MSC has today launched a new Sustainable Tuna Yearbook, an annual publication with the goal of highlighting the numerous complex issues throughout the tuna supply chain and showing consumer and market trends when in comes to sustainably sourced tuna. The launch was chosen to coincide with World Tuna Day, 2^nd May.

According to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the total global amount of tuna caught has been steadily increasing every year since the 1950s. The most recent State of the World’s Fisheries report reveals that than 2.8 million tonnes of live weight skipjack tuna and more than 1.5 million tonnes of live weight yellowfin were caught in 2020. 

As the global demand for tuna has increased, the pressure on populations and ecosystems has intensified. Widely differing fishing methods, gear types and environmental impacts mean that the sustainability of tuna can be difficult to quantify. Despite the cost-of-living crisis, market demand is increasingly leaning towards sustainable options, however, with MSC reporting a rise in sales of tuna certified under their accreditation scheme.  

The MSC Fisheries Standard has three principles that every fishery must meet to achieve certification: 

• Sustainability of the stock: Fisheries must operate in a way that allows fishing to continue indefinitely, without overexploiting the resource. 
• Ecosystem impacts: Fishing operations need to be managed to maintain the structure, productivity, function and diversity of the ecosystem upon which the fishery depends, including other species and habitats. 
• Effective management: All fisheries need to meet all local, national and international laws and have an effective management system in place.

MSC’s Chief Programme Officer Nicolas Guichoux said, “To safeguard the supply of tuna, we need to make sure it’s being fished in a sustainable way. The increase in sales of tuna that has been sustainably sourced shows just how much shoppers understand that.”

What are the sustainability issues with tuna?

Because tuna is a migratory fish, it crosses numerous jurisdictions, making legislation around fishing practices difficult to manage. For example, the 26 nations responsible for tuna fishing in the Western Central Pacific – home to more than half the world’s skipjack, the most popular species of tuna – are currently in long-term negotiations to agree on rules designed to ensure that stocks never become overfished.   

In order to safeguard global populations, the tuna sector – and, indeed, the wider seafood industry – requires stringent and coordinated management, effective enforcement, elimination of forced labour and illegal fishing, clear and transparent labelling, and reductions in catches of Endangered, Threatened and Protected (ETP) species. These issues are prevalent across the sector and present ongoing challenges for procurement teams eager to source sustainable options. 

In 2016, the UN designated 2^nd May as World Tuna Day following research showing that one-third of the stocks of the seven principal tuna species were being fished at biologically unsustainable levels. Since then, many fisheries have shown a huge commitment to improving practices to ensure the sustainability of tuna. The International Seafood Sustainability Foundation’s recent stock report showed 86% of global tuna catch was coming from stocks at healthy levels.    

UK demand for sustainable tuna is rising

According to the MSC UK Tuna Shopper Report 2023, UK consumers purchased 15,360 tonnes of MSC-certified tuna in 2022-23, the highest figure to date and three times more than in 2020-21. Projections estimate that this volume will surpass 25,000 tonnes for the 2023-24 financial year. 

With commitments to selling 100% MSC labelled tuna by 2025 from major brands like Tesco and Princes, it's to be hoped that the proportion of sustainably sourced tuna purchased by consumers in the UK will rise further in the years ahead. That said, it's crucial for consumers and especially F&B businesses to remember that choosing fish from further down the food chain – such as anchovies, herrings and sardines – is always the more sustainable choice; bivalves like mussels, oysters and clams are even better.

What’s going on with UK Atlantic bluefin tuna?

A three-year catch-and-release scheme, known as Chart, studied the impact of sports fishing and came to a close in late 2023. This scheme has shown a resurgence in bluefin tuna stocks off the UK coastline – good news for coastal fishing communities as well as the fish themselves. While Chart has been praised by environmental groups, the return of commercial fishing at the end of 2023 received a mixed response.

In 2023, the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) announced a limited hook and line fishery for bluefin tuna in UK waters. Closing on 31^st December 2023, this marked the first commercial fishing season for Atlantic bluefin tuna in more than 60 years.

Environmental conservation groups have emphasised the need to proceed with caution. “The success of the [tag-and-release] programme shows us that when advice from scientists, recreational anglers, skippers and conservationists is followed and we treat our seas right, species can stage a remarkable return,” said Dr Kenneth Bodles, Head of Fisheries and Aquaculture at the Marine Conservation Society. “As we witness this resurgence of bluefin tuna in the UK, it’s crucial that we proceed with utmost care, adopting careful management and continued monitoring that honours the fragile balance of our seas and respects this iconic species.”

The UK government has announced its intention to open a much bigger recreational catch-and-release bluefin tuna fishery in 2024. Speaking on behalf of the Angling Trust and the UK Bluefin Tuna Association, Stuart Singleton-White said that anglers are frustrated that Defra hasn’t listened to the expertise they’re offering.

“What they propose risks doing immense damage to the reputation gained through a well-managed, high welfare catch-and-release fishery, and the credibility of those taking part. We’re determined this won’t happen and will continue to work with Defra to ensure the clear views of stakeholders and all those who responded to the consultation are incorporated.”

Read how your business can source seafood sustainably here, or learn more about UK Atlantic bluefin tuna here. Interested in how joining our network can support and guide you in making sustainable procurement practices? Drop us a line at hello@thesra.org!