Eastern Pacific Ocean tuna – purse seine (Marpesca)

The first stakeholder meeting of the Marpesca Purse Seine Tuna Fishery’ managed by Marpesca that was recently listed as a comprehensive FIP on Fishery Progress, was held alongside the American Tuna Conference 2020 in Panama City. The group discussed all the documentation and ran through the action plan. Next steps were agreed and the FIP was put in formal motion on its journey to achieving MSC certification by January 2025.

The fishery targets bigeye (Thunnus obesus), skipjack (Katsuwonus pelamis) and yellowfin (T.albacares) tuna on the high seas in the Eastern Pacific Ocean (EPO) and occasionally in national Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs). There are a total of five purse seine vessels included in the FIP, which are flagged to Ecuador, Nicaragua and Panama, managed regionally by the IATTC.

The fishery aims to meet the following objectives:

• Sustainable Fish Stocks – To ensure tuna and other primary species catches across the Eastern Pacific Ocean do not exceed sustainable levels.

• Minimising Environmental Impacts – To promote the ecosystem-based approach to fisheries management.

• Effective Management – To strengthen governance systems in Flag States, the RFMO and the Eastern Pacific Purse Seine Tuna fishery.

• To meet a pass of the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) Standard by January 2025.

If you would like to know more information, please view the Fishery Progress profile or contact FIP Coordinator, Tom Evans at t.evans@keytraceability.com.