The 26 members of Papua New Guinea’s Fishing Industry Association landed 123,266 metric tons (MT) of Marine Stewardship Council-certified yellowfin, skipjack, and bigeye tuna in 2021, according to its annual sustainability report, released in April 2022.
The report, delivered as part of the FIA’s Responsible Sourcing Policy, which was adopted in 2018, “show[s] our ongoing commitment to transparency within our tuna supply value chain strategy and the impact of [the policy] in the PNG tuna fishery,” FIA PNG Sustainability Director Marcelo Hidalgo said.
“Since 2020, our catches have maintained a composition of 90 percent unassociated sets (free school) and 10 percent associated FAD (fish-aggregating device sets). The National Fishery Authority has maintained continuous 100 percent observer onboard coverage that, together with the Industry Fisheries Information Management System (iFIMS), report almost in real-time tuna
catches and their catch’s composition to the authorities,” Hidalgo said.
In 2021, the FIA applied for a geographical scope extension to allow its 48-vessel tuna fleet to fish in the Western Central Pacific Ocean, a fishing ground with an estimated 730,000 metric tons (MT) of tuna biomass. The FIA is now undergoing the first surveillance audit required by MSC, and must demonstrate progress in the conditions set by MSC via its fishery assessment issued when the fishery was certified in May 2020.